


Because of Yujou

by felicia_angel



Series: Dragontamers [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Personality Swap, Psychological Trauma, Torture, fem!Jounouchi, psycho!Yami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-26
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-27 15:45:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 50,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/980728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felicia_angel/pseuds/felicia_angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Jounouchi was always a girl, Yugi is not so alright with losing hours of his life, Yami is a bit crazier then originally seen, and the Millennium Puzzle is a bit more mysterious...based mostly on the manga</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Yugi Muto

 

Jounouchi watched the class head out for the break, leaving only herself and the smallest kid in class left behind. While most of the people in the class knew each other since middle school, Jounouchi was new in the classroom and, thus, had been an oddity for the past few weeks. She wore a longer skirt then most of the other girls, though it was still in regulation, and while she did wear the pink jacket when required, it was often tied around her waist instead. Rumor had it that she’d been given permission to work at various times, but most of the others said it was a brother or cousin.

“It’s ok,” the small boy in class, Muto Yugi, said to the one who invited him to the game, “the team I’m on always loses anyway…”

With no more attempts to draw him out, the guys left, no one asking if Jounouchi was following or not. She had work to keep herself in the school, since originally she was supposed to go to Rintama High. Still, at least she wasn’t being constantly bothered by Hirutani or any of the rest of his gang. It’d been bad enough right before they got into high school, so bad that Dad had made a deal with her about what high school to get into, and so far had kept the promise. It was enough to make Jounouchi feel a bit jittery, though.

She frowned and sat up as Yugi pulled out a strange, gold box of some sort with odd symbols on it. The kid seemed really interested in it and what was inside, though Jou could care less. It honestly looked like the cheap things that her mom bought to put jewelry in. Yugi’s too engrossed in the box to notice Honda sneak into the classroom and take it, attempting to play ‘keep away’ with it as a bit of a jest.

Jounouchi sighed and caught the heavier-than-normal box when it was tossed, shaking her head. “See, its things like this that get you all mopey about not being class president and stuck as janitor.”

“JOU!” Honda protested as Yugi attempted to get the box back. He was shorter than her and even most of the other girls, but considering that she was taller than most girls as well, a few centimeters short of Honda’s own height, it was a bit understandable that Yugi appeared much smaller.

Ignoring her friend, Jounouchi instead looked over at Yugi. “Even _I_ don’t make such a fuss about jeweled boxes. What’s so special about this that you can’t be a man?” She shrugs, moving the box around and frowning. It was heavier than she’d originally thought because it appeared to me out of a very solid wood, with gold and what looked like ivory inlay to create strange symbols all around. Considering the craftsmanship, it had to be old.

Jou looked back at Yugi before saying, “I’ll give it back if you hit Honda as hard as you can!”

Both Yugi and Honda looked a bit annoyed at the suggestion, but for very different reasons. Jou frowned at Honda, disliking her friend’s cowardice. “It’s not like I should advocate being a ‘man’ means being able to hit a girl like me.”

Honda looked ready to say something when Yugi yelled, “NO! I HATE VIOLENCE AND FIGHTING!”

Jou winced at how high his voice had gotten, as well as how shrill. Kid needed to hit puberty and fast. Yugi sighed, deflating a bit in a way that Jou knew from others that Hiru had perpetually bullied back in the day. “Can I have the box back, please?”

“Not a chance!” Honda told him roughly as Jounouchi frowned, looking at the box.

“What’s so special about it?” she asked, glancing at him, “Let me take a peek and it’s yours.”

Yugi swallowed, blushing deeply before saying, “o-okay, but just a peek! And please don’t lose anything inside!”

Jou opened the top, frowning at the gold pieces, one on top being a puzzle-piece with a single, dark eye. She took it easily as the lid closed, and tossed it back to Yugi. When Honda attempted to grab it and see for himself, a new hand quickly caught it, announcing the arrival of Mazaki Anzu.

Jou didn’t quite know what to make of Mazaki, beyond the fact that she was head-strong enough to actually act on threats of violence, and only made them to people who pissed her off. She was also shorter than Jounouchi, like most girls, and _insisted_ on calling Jou by her first name, which Jou personally hated.

“You two stop bullying Yugi! Don’t you have better things to do?”

Honda beat it out of there, Jou shrugging and leaving after him, not wanting to start a fight. The odd puzzle piece was warm in her hand, and she wondered why it bothered her so much.

_Because he’s a guy. He’s a guy who likes puzzles and things you can’t have. What type of tough-girl knows the stuff that went into a box’s design anyway? And how is that gonna help you out? Not like you can sell all your pretty little items to make up for Daddy’s problems._

“I can’t believe you put me up to get hit.”

“You wanted me to say he had to hit me instead?” Jou asked, once more stopping Honda’s line of thought as he muttered about Mazaki. “We weren’t picking on any--.”

Both were stopped short by a wall of muscle, pulling back as Honda let out his own little sound, like a girl had just spotted a spider.

From the looks of this guy, it was a big spider. “What do you mean, ‘picking on’?” the guy asked, his glare dark and pissing Jounouchi off. The hell was it to him?

“I might’ve meant y--.” She started right as Honda wrapped an arm around her and put a hand over her mouth.

“Nothing at all! Of course not. I can’t lose my janitorial job over that, now can I?”

“Bullying is wrong!” was the last thing that the guy said before walking back the way he came, Honda frantically telling Jounouchi, “Idiot, that’s Ushio! He’s a demon of rules, even the teachers are afraid of him. Pick your fights!”

Jou let out a breath when Honda released her and punched his shoulder for it. “I’m not picking fights, in case you haven’t noticed. You’re the one who took the box, and you’re the one who’s all pissy ‘cause you got bored.” Jou crossed her arms and glared at him. “I came here to get away from picking on people, and all I’ve seen so far is either kids that get picked on, or kids that don’t care, or individuals who attempt to be as badass as gangs. I don’t get it, _Hiroto_.”

Honda glared at her - only his sister called him by his first name - and said, “Yeah, well, you’re not acting like you wanted to stop fighting. At least here we’d be a team.”

“I got better things to do then entertain your stupid ass,” Jou pointed out, opening up her hand to look at the warm puzzle piece in her hand. It wasn’t quite gold, she didn’t think, but it was something. It could be, but without the other pieces, it was probably worthless.

_As worthless as his puzzle, now_ , Jou thought as she looked out. Dad had said he’d quit drinking if she stopped fighting. To some degree, she had, but that didn’t give her a good outlet. There was too much bubbling under the surface, and nothing for her to push that energy on. Schoolwork didn’t always help, and she was never one to pick up vices like gambling or drinking, not after she’d had to work odd-jobs to pay off Dad’s debts.

_Not to mention you’re worthless as a girl. What’s that kid talking about, ‘treasure’ and ‘something you can show that isn’t seen’? Bull, all of it. The sooner he learns his lessons and gets used to disappointment, the better. Then again, it’s not like that kid’s worth anything as a man. The worthless girl is better than a useless man, but only--_

“What’s that you got there?” Honda asked, breaking her thoughts.

“That box had a puzzle in it,” she said, shrugging, “so now he can’t finish it. Well…” another look outside was all she needed before she shifted and threw the piece. It flew in an arc before landing with a small splash in the pool nearby.

Honda snickered. “Perfect.”

Jou shrugged again before noting the time and letting out a breath. Of course, she didn’t feel better, but at the same time, that wasn’t her fault.

_That stupid kid only needed to hit Honda. Hell, didn’t need to be hard either. What type of a guy can’t even protect himself?_

\--

Jounouchi got that Honda was worried. He’d never quite been good with fighting or anything, even in middle school. He was much better so long as you gave him an air gun or something to shoot with. Jou had tried to use that to their advantage in a few fights, but since Honda simply didn’t want to start fights, and most of the ones Jou was in were never started _by_ her, but by Hiru or someone else, it made sense that Honda would want to avoid Ushio.

_Avoid_ was the key term. _Getting stalked by and beat up behind the school_ was nowhere near that.

Ushio went ‘easy on her’, so Jounouchi was still more aware than Honda was when Ushio brought his ‘client’ over. Of course it was Yugi. Who else would it be?

“Move,” Ushio muttered, smirking in a way that Jou was getting use to, after she’d started to develop a girlish figure. “I’m not done teaching this girl a lesson.”

“Stop it!” Yugi moved in front of them, arms out. He was still too small to make a difference between them, but it caused Ushio to chuckle, wondering what type of a weirdo Yugi was to protect his bullies.

“They’re not bullies, they’re my friends! I can’t hurt my friends!”

_I hate violence and fighting!_ Yugi’s voice from yesterday rang in her ears.

“You must be a nice guy,” Ushio said after commenting on how weird Yugi was for not wanting to hit them, “calling punks like these your friends.”

Yugi muttered something about them not being bullies, Ushio chuckling before saying, “Well, then I need to collect my fee for this...200,000 yen!”

Jou suddenly really wished she was at her middle school. At least there it was just the alpha-male bull that got people to fight, not just randomly picking a kid who’s being bullied and charging them for beating up said bullies.

“Well? Maybe you’re not satisfied with the job I did so far? Want me to beat them up some more?”

Yugi’s voice went loud again, his posture reminding Jounouchi of a small animal, taking on a larger, more deadly one. “DON’T HURT THEM! IF ANYONE’S GONNA GET HURT, IT’S ME!”

Ushio snorted, apparently amused by how much he was messing with Yugi, and reached down to pick him up by his jacket. “Well, since you went with that, I guess I should leave a reminder for payment. This isn’t ‘bullying’...it’s a ‘warning’!”

He socked Yugi, dropping him only to bring up his knee and keep Yugi around the same area he’d been lifted by sheer force. Jou didn’t get it, not really. Why was Yugi protecting them, when Honda had been such an ass to him and she hadn’t been much better? Why say they were friends?

_Are you that alone?_

The beating, luckily, didn’t last that long, Ushio drawing out a knife as the threat for the next day. Yugi lay curled up for a second before Jou managed to stand, helping Honda up and offering a hand to Yugi. He looked miserable, but took it, the three limping back to the nurse’s office as Honda shifted, obviously a bit unhappy that Jou was taking care of them. Jou often had to take care of some of the guys in her life – her Dad had needed her help when he was very drunk or angry at losing, Honda had needed help a few times, and so had a few others that she knew or had been in a gang with. Yugi wasn’t special in this point, but at the same time, he was the first one to really take a beating for her when she’d never done anything good to him.

The nurse, luckily, didn’t ask any questions, instead examining them and proclaiming them not too beat to finish the last hour of class, but that they had to head home right after. Yugi seemed to still be thinking about the fee that Ushio had demanded, and Jou really did wish she could help him. She’d seen enough of the guys sent after Dad if he didn’t have the money to know them and what they threatened, as well as how bad things could get if they didn’t get what they asked for. She wasn’t sure how to help.

Honda was good for getting home, but Jou wasn’t as sure about Yugi. He seemed a bit down still…

And Jou needed to know where Yugi lived, if what she planned was going to work.

He didn’t live far from school, at least, in a small Game Shop, Yugi looking up at her with somewhat wide, sad eyes. “Thank you, Jounouchi.”

She smiled back, hoping for at least a glimmer of a smile. Despite his loneliness, at least he was trying. “I should thank you. I…well, it hasn’t happened before. So…thanks.”

The High School was easy enough to break into, and the pool was even easier. She managed to slip off her skirt and, after a quick check around for any perverts before diving in, quickly swimming to the bottom of the pool and grabbing the strange piece, the eye appearing almost confused at her return before she kicked off the bottom and back up, putting her skirt back on and heading back to the game shop. Outside, an older man with similar bangs to Yugi’s sweeping out front and frowning when he saw her.

She held out the puzzle piece. “Yugi might need this…and some money…”

\--

Sansone Jounouchi sighed as he got in from work. Construction had always helped him focus, and luckily he’d gotten a decent job from someone willing to help him out. While he had been raised mostly in Japan, with a brief (and very hard) time in Brooklyn with his father’s family after…well, after…he’d only ever found joy in working construction or being in charge of it. The drinking and gambling had been a problem to deal with.

He frowned as he noticed that Katsuya hadn’t started dinner, which was odd for her. She’d wanted to catch up on homework, as well as possibly do some new pieces to sell later, so she normally had dinner started or ready when he got home.

Sansone looked around before spotting his daughter curled up on the couch, her school blouse and hair wet and a few bruises on her face. Since her knuckles weren’t bloody or anything, she hadn’t gotten into a fight, or hadn’t had the time to fight back.

Katsuya stirred and blinked sleepily at him as he kissed her hand, smiling at her for reassurance. “Hey. What happened?”

“Some jerk at school decided to jump me,” she told him as he moved to pick her up, “’m ok.”

He chuckled a bit at that, “I’m sure. I’m still worried.”

She let out a breath, and shifted a bit as he put her to bed, moving a towel and some dry clothing nearby for her so she didn’t fall asleep in the wet ones. “someone else was hurt, but I hope they’ll be ok. I don’t want them hurt again.”

“I know you don’t. Make sure to change before you fall asleep again.” He turned to leave and give her some privacy.

“Da?” He looked back as she muttered, “this didn’t break the promise…did it?”

He shook his head. “No, dear. It doesn’t at all.”

\--

_I wish for friends who won’t betray me, and that I won’t betray either. Friends who won’t betray me…_

He’d been trapped for a long while, but the child had been focused on him, despite everything. It was odd, and a bit strange for him to become attached to anyone that touched the puzzle. He assumed it was simply that the longevity and general goodness of the child had caused him to leave it alone.

But he agreed with the girl and some of the others that taunted the boy – he had no spine, was hardly even a man. To not fight when even your friends and family were in danger was not something that showed strength but allowed others to take advantage of the person.

So to wish for friends that would never betray this child…that was a heavy wish.

Still, the spirit found that the boy’s determination to have friends, as well as protect them despite the pain, to be worth his time in the end. He knew that the girl who’d taken a piece of himself was in need of a focus – the boy was a good one, and his ability to understand their goodness, despite the taunts, was a sign that she would, at least, fit the criteria. She was bound to him, and wouldn’t betray the boy.

The final piece clicked into place, allowing the tentative connection from before, over the long hours of touching and moving the puzzle to find a way to put the pieces back together, to finally solidify enough for him to travel over, his soul room from the puzzle pushing the main room aside and easily taking up the needed space.

It’s hardly a problem, getting the needed language and information from him. Eight years has allowed him to easily make a map of the child’s mind, and just as easily to bring up the Shadows and create the personal items needed for what he planned.

_So that delinquent thinks he can cause trouble? He calls himself just? I suppose I must weigh his intentions, then…_

It was easy enough to send a message to Ushio, using the knowledge that the child ( _Yugi_ ) had, and just as easy to create more of the paper money for that purpose.

He saw the other boy’s greed easy enough, and was glad he’d chosen such a game to deal with this one. His greed and power had meant he would abuse it – a moral person, a leader, did not abuse their power such. It simply didn’t do.

“I have the money here…400,000 yen really…and it’d be a shame to just pay you all of it. So, Ushio, shall we play a game? Well,” he chuckled, glad to see Ushio’s surprised reaction, “not just any game. It’s called a Shadow Game.” This part was important. The ones who took part in the Shadow Game either had to do so willingly, or give something to become part of it and be judged. That didn’t mean he couldn’t…entice…the chosen evil into it, but that was still the rule thus far.

“How about it?” the spirit asked, “If you win, that’s 200,000 more yen.”

“Interesting,” Ushio said, showing his obvious interest and calling the Shadows to the front even more, but not enough for a good game…

“We only need one object,” the spirit said, pointing to Ushio, “that knife you’re hiding.”

Ushio gave it over willingly, and the Shadows encircled them fully. _Perfect_.

The game itself was easy – controlling your strength and greed to gain money. However, if neither were controlled, you would end up stabbing yourself in the hand, thus ‘losing’ the game. “Oh, and if you break a rule, you’ll be cursed by a ‘penalty game’.”

That Ushio didn’t ask what that was only served to lower the spirit’s opinion of him. The boy deserved everything that happened to him, if he was so confident that he wouldn’t dare to ask for any clarification. The robbers attempting to find his tomb had more self-preservation.

The game didn’t go on long, which was the point of it. It was easy enough to push and pull out about ten bills with the strength that the child’s body had – he would have to work on that, and the height, later as he became more in-tuned with the body and weaker mind within. It wouldn’t do to have such a small, weak body for someone sent to pass judgment on the wicked.

It soon became clear that Ushio wouldn’t be able to control his greed, and the knife trembled in his hand as he realized the implication of what the spirit had warned him about. The bully quickly realized that he couldn’t win, not with his greed gaining the upper hand, and instead attacked the spirit.

That was the moment he’d been waiting for, smiling as the Shadows pinned Ushio in place to deal with his punishment.

“As I thought, you couldn’t control your greed and broke the rules,” he felt the power of the Wadjet eye ignite on him, as his power came up to full force, pushing the other soul further into itself and leaving only him and the Shadows in charge. “The eye sees what’s in your heart, what your true intentions are…” The spirit snorted in disgust. “You’re not worth their time. Penalty Game!” The shadows broke off, one freeing itself and wrapping around Ushio and burying itself into him, to leave a scar should he ever manage to shake it off.

“…eh…hehehe…money…money everywhere…I’m surrounded by it!” Ushio’s face took on a manic look and the spirit smiled, heading back and glad for a job done. He only left a suggestion within Yugi, a way to remain connected by having him wear the completed Puzzle, before taking them back and going to bed. After all, there wasn’t a reason for him to hang around, if there weren’t others to punish.

\--

Jounouchi was waiting for Yugi when he got to school, tired and confused. He didn’t remember anything beyond completing the Puzzle and waking up the next day, wanting to wear it and show it off.

“How’re you feeling?” Jounouchi asked, getting Yugi to shuffle to each side before saying, “Fine. You?”

“I’ve had worse,” she said, shrugging off the bandage on her cheek and then saying, “Hey, I have a treasure too…wanna see it?”

“Um…yes,” he said, happy at the change.

“Well, you can’t. It’s ‘present but can’t be seen’. You have to figure out the riddle.”

Yugi blinked, considering for a long moment before she pointed to him, smiling happily and making her light-brown eyes shine. “Silly, it’s right here. Yu,” she pointed at him, “jou,” then herself and smiled even more. “We’re here, but our friendship can’t be seen. Get it?”

Yugi couldn’t breathe for a moment, and tried to tell himself to not cry, before he finally said, “Y-yeah!”

“Don’t cry on me,” she said, pulling him into a hug as they headed to class, “you big baby.”

“S-sorry.”

She chuckled. “You’re too cute sometimes, Yugi. Come on, we don’t want to be late for class.”

Yugi wasn’t sure what to do with the knowledge, and so it was harder to focus in class than normal. In fact, it took him a bit, until break, before Jounouchi came to sit next to him and see how he was doing.

“Um…well…I just…only Anzu…”

Jounouchi rolled her eyes at the mention of Anzu, “I got that, I guess. And to be fair, I’m not sure what we have to be friends about…well, besides the fact that Ushio got carted off to the asylum earlier.”

Yugi frowned at that, feeling like he _should_ remember something…

“What is that, by the way?” Jounouchi asked, pointing to one of the games that Yugi had brought for these times.

“OH! It’s a game that my grandpa just got in for the game shop. Here, lemme show you how it works.”

Which was how it started, really, with Yugi showing Jounouchi a game while Anzu was out somewhere or Honda was doing other things. At the same time, she seemed to like talking to him, and really liked the different games. What surprised him was that she seemed to look at most of them with a strangely critical eye.

It wasn’t until a week later, as they were walking back, that he learned she sometimes made crafts when she was younger.

“Really?”

“It was something to do,” she said with a shrug, “and sometimes it’s inexpensive. My dad works construction, and sometimes he’ll get some scrap stuff for me to use. I…wasn’t really inspired, during middle school.”

He frowned, considering. “Is that why you looked at the box the way you did?”

“Yeah. It’s a really heavy type of wood, and pretty expensive. Same with the puzzle, but I’m not sure what type of metal it’s made of. It’s heavy enough to be gold, but it’s not soft enough either…” She stopped and shifted, looking annoyed. “I mean, it’s just--.”

“That’s amazing!”

Jou stopped for a second, Yugi looking back at her. “What?”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah,” Yugi said, blinking in confusion before Jou smiled at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Jou said, putting an arm around him and changing the subject as they headed to school, then frowning when they saw a van parked out front, the logo for ZTV on the side.

“I wonder what that’s about…”

\--

To be fair, she didn’t care about the cameras. In fact, threatening the guy who’d hit Yugi had managed to get some of the steam off that Yugi’s games hadn’t.

If she’d known that learning how to play games or figuring out new ones was so fun, she would’ve done that instead. But the fact that she knew how to fight was a plus for Yugi.

Well, also that, considering how he seemed to always cheer up when she was around, in a way that Mazaki couldn’t get out of him, and treated her like a _person_ and not a _girl_ or some glorified wank object…yeah, she wasn’t about to let anyone pick on him if she had the chance.

So despite the dress and the director being a huge pervert, saying he’d only keep filming if Jou ‘made it interesting’, Jou was still able to throw a good punch to his face before holding him up by the shirt. She wasn’t going to take this from a director, especially not one that set up a friend to be hurt for his own sadistic pleasure.

“Don’t you pull that bullshit,” she growled, “you can edit something however you want and make him look like an asshole or a sap. Who the hell gave you permission to film at the school, anyway?” The look the director gave her was answer enough. Of course the teachers and officials weren’t paying attention. “I should report you.”

“Oh really? You think that’ll work? You can’t stop the press! I could turn you into scum with just a bit of editing.” He chuckled as the director finally brought a knee up to Jounouchi’s middle, catching her off-guard and sending her to the ground. “In fact, I could even make you the bully. Yankee girl like you…everyone knows that’s all you do and all you’re good for.”

The camera crew left, Yugi moving over to touch Jounouchi’s shoulder as she shrugged him off. She wasn’t in the mood for any sort of condolences or anything else. “I’m fine. That guy didn’t hit you too hard, did he?”

She glanced over at him, frowning as she noticed slight physical changes in him. His eyes appeared darker, his hair now having strange spots of yellow in it, and he had a look about him that worried her. Something about it made her look at the puzzle that Yugi completed, frowning in confusion.

“Yugi?”

“I’m fine,” he said, his voice sounding odd and only making her more worried. “He didn’t hit me too hard, luckily.”

“…ok. Do you want to go to the nurse’s office?”

“No. I’ll be fine.”

Not convinced, Jounouchi watched Yugi throughout the day, noting that most of his movements seemed…off. It was like someone was going through the motions of Yugi’s day, not even bothering to really hide that they weren’t Yugi. She knew Mazaki was a bit put off by it, but Mazaki was still fuming because Jounouchi hadn’t instantly let her call her ‘Katsuya’ either. How hard was it to understand she _liked_ her last name and that they _weren’t_ friends like that?

Unluckily, Yugi took a different bus then Jounouchi did after school, and she lost him in the crowd. Cursing her luck, Jounouchi hoped that Yugi would be alright.

\--

 The spirit was unhappy at the director, for various reasons. What was most surprising was his anger at them for insulting the girl ( _Jounouchi_ ) and saying they’d make her the villain. He wasn’t sure, but he’d seen how badly the comments had hurt her, and skimming through the mind of the child had shown that it might be because of her blond-ish hair and light eyes.

It was enough to make him shake his head as he waited for the director, in the parking lot of ZTV studio. Ma’at demanded he deal with one who wronged others, and so he was going to deal with it. At the same time, he was well aware of how easily the Shadows appeared, ready to devour anyone at the studio.

_Too much imbalance,_ he thought, annoyed. Still, entertainers did have their own hierarchy and laws, so he saw no reason to interfere with that unless it went into the territory of his heart and mind.

This one did. The director had created a lie and passed it off as truth – that demanded punishment. He’d also hurt a person and claimed that he was above the law.

The spirit smirked as the director let out a scream upon seeing him. “I’ve been waiting for you, director.”

The Shadows easily surrounded him, only speaking more of his man’s guilt. He would not get an easy end, not like Ushio. If anything, he thinks he’ll play with this one a bit longer.

He notes the Shadows shifting in agreement, but also notes his body’s need for rest. Using the shared body with the boy meant that he had to be careful about how long he used it. If the boy was too tired, he’d be noticed.

Because there wasn’t much to pay attention for the Game the Shadows had picked for the director, the spirit could consider the fact that Jounouchi had noticed him. If anything, the girl had seemed to keep an eye on him all day. It was likely she had some idea that he was different from Yugi, meaning he’d have to be more careful.

As expected, the director attempted to attack him, prompting the spirit to split the die with the Puzzle and let the Shadows take him. He smirked as the director started screaming about the mosaic, then begin to claw at his eyes as if to make them work.

They wouldn’t. The spirit saw the Shadow that took to that man was particularly hungry, and seemed to enjoy the torment of the man pulling at his eyes while still only seeing the pixilated world he’d been put into. It also served as a good first warning.

_When I have full control of the body, then I can focus on punishing others. Until then, these few will work. I can easily deal with them as I see fit._

 

 


	2. Into the Furnace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jounouchi and Yugi get used to being friends. Yugi is very not ok with losing time. There is much talk between friends.
> 
> Seriously, have you /seen/ the filler for the original manga and first anime? it's a bit insane...

Part 2: Into the Furnace

The weird change to Yugi doesn’t occur during the next few weeks, at least not in front of Jounouchi. She still notices some problems as well.

For example, for all Yugi tries to hide it, she knows that Souzouji picked him and Hanasaki for that whole ‘night of me making your ears bleed’ thing. She also isn’t sure how either of them survived it, only that they did. She’s yet to check on the rumors that Souzouji tore his earlobes off and, in an attempt to make ‘it’ shut up, almost stabbed himself in the heart. He’s also afraid of microphones and anything that picks up noises now.

_That’s only rumors and he might come back to school_ , she thinks, somewhat down as she prepares lunch for herself and dad. Dad was nice enough to explain his Italian heritage as ‘getting to have pizza so long as only tomato, cheese, and basil is used’ and how to easily make one for his lunches, if running late and if she couldn’t get a bento together.

“shit,” she muttered in English when she saw the time and her dad came over, grabbing something to eat on the way to his work and picking up his own box.

“Don’t swear,” he told her in English before kissing her forehead and heading out, Jounouchi checking to make sure she had everything before racing out.

Of course she’d nearly be late for class, Yugi looking worried as she gave him a grin. “It’s ok, just a patch of bad luck. It’s kinda common, in my family.”

_More like endemic_ came a slightly bitter thought as she tried to concentrate on school. Before the ‘deal’, Dad had been on a pretty bad slope towards ruining himself. The whole thing had not been bad at that time was that they didn’t spend a lot of time together – she’d still been too angry at what occurred during the divorce and how mom had taken Shizuka, and her dad was too hurt by losing his job and trying to find a new one to really focus.  Dad’s gambling and attempts to get into various ‘schemes’ had not helped them until everything just ended with a fight that nearly got the police to the house. They’d made their deal and so far, nothing had occurred to change it.

Of course, Jounouchi also had _better_ luck than her dad, so her having _bad_ luck meant either a) he was having worse or b) he was doing ok. She hoped it was the later.

The day was normal, though she couldn’t win at the game that Yugi had brought to show her and Masaki. Still, at least the other girl wasn’t calling her Katsuye anymore, instead sticking to Jounouchi and frowning as Jounouchi once again failed a roll.

“Bad luck?”

“Yeah,” Jounouchi muttered, “it happens. It should go away in a bit.”

Masaki at least looked a bit concerned, but otherwise didn’t comment on it. Afterwards, as she and Yugi headed home and Jounouchi headed off in her own direction with Honda, he let out a breath.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?”

“You’re just spending a lot of time with them, that’s all.”

Jounouchi sighed, shrugging. “If you didn’t spend so much time trying to impress that Miho girl, I’d spend more time with you.” Honda looked a bit hurt. “Look, you want to be respectable, and so far you are. No one’s given you shit since Ushio. Me? I have to stop from getting into fights ‘cause some pervs like to spread rumors about me and Masaki. You’d think they’d come up with something original. Not to mention that there’s plenty of assholes who go after Yugi.”

“That’s ‘cause he’s weak.” Honda frowned as he noticed Jounouchi continuing with him towards his sister’s house. “Don’t tell me you’re watching over Johji?”

She shrugged, “I need the cash, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Honda gave her a look. Considering that Johji was a pervert, even at this young age, and a spoiled brat, she could guess at the reason for it.

“Is someone making trouble?”

“Nope. Dad’s got a steady job and apparently his boss likes him,” Jounouchi said, “plus he’s in the union or something. Odd as it may sound, fewer of the gambling people will mess with the union. Especially since he’s making payments, but that doesn’t mean we won’t need some extra.”

“Jou…”

“And anyway, it’s--.”

“Katsuye,” he finally said, getting Jounouchi to pause as they headed up to the apartment where his sister lived, “what is this about?”

Knowing Honda was being serious and _not_ just teasing her, Jounouchi sighed and leaned against the wall. “We’ve had to get some cheaper food, recently, ‘cause of paying off the debts. And one group isn’t backing down. This is more so we can have something to eat, or in case they decide to try and do anything.”

Honda shifted at his spot before moving next to her. “You just have to ask.”

“I can stand your hentai cousin, Hiroto.”

He chuckled a bit. “I know. Just I don’t think you should.” The two managed a smile before continuing up the stairs, Honda’s sister smiling as they arrived. “Jounouchi, thank you for coming with Hiroto. I know how difficult Johji can get.”

“Katsu-chan! Hold me!” the young boy yelled, making grabby-hands at the teen. Both Jounouchi and his mother rolled their eyes, his mother saying, “Johji, be nice.”

“I’d like to know how you gave birth to Crayon Shin-chan…”

“Not funny,” she muttered back to Jounouchi, “see if I don’t make you hold him.”

Johji attempted to cry but his mother picked him up and tapped him on the nose. “None of that, Johji, or I’ll have Hiroto and all your male cousins care for you.”

The child fell silent. Johji was young, and a bit of a pain, but he already knew his mom was a force to be reckoned with. She’d been a tomboy like Masaki, but after marrying a salaryman, was now a housewife of sorts. She sometimes went to take classes or talk to friends, and so sometimes had to have either her brother or her older brother’s sons take care of Johji. Though, to get him to not be such a pain, she had to pay Jounouchi to take care of him.

Jounouchi put her bag down next to Honda’s and pulled out a small item, one of the larger, child-friendly items she’d managed to make and showed it to Johji, who’s eyes lit up.

“You be good, and I’ll leave it here,” she told him, putting it on the table and taking him from Honda’s sister. He doesn’t instantly reach for her breasts, so she counted that as plus as Honda’s sister headed out and Honda pulled out their homework.

It’s a few hours and some completed homework later that Honda’s sister returned, and Jounouchi headed home.

She’s almost home when four toughs come out, the smaller man smirking to one side as he looked over at her. “Well, well. If it isn’t the little mutt-bitch daughter of Jounouchi…your dad owes my boss.”

Jounouchi glared at him. Nothing got her temper boiling faster than that insult, or toughs that thought they could take her on. Ushio had gotten lucky, and so had that damned director, but these guys…well, she needed to relieve some steam.

“We’re paying your boss, or did you not get the memo? Are you as stupid as you look?”

The glare he leveled at her before the first thug came after said it all.

_Yeah, I would be cursed right now, wouldn’t I?_

\--

“Seriously? Four guys?”

Jounouchi smiled at Yugi, who looked up at her in awe. “It’s not that hard, if you know how. My main problem is that one got in a lucky shot.” She didn’t mention that her dad was overly worried. Granted, these days, Dad was always worried when she got hurt.

“Still, it’s not a good sign,” she told him, “our luck is pretty bad sometimes.”

Before Yugi could comment, a power coupling nearly hit them, causing both to jump.

At least at school, things were less hectic, and Masaki seemed to think about the ‘bad luck’ before saying, “Well, there are rumors about this one psychic in school – Kokurano, in Class A. He’s supposed to see the future, and his predictions are supposed to always be right. All the girls go to him for their fortunes during break.”

While Jounouchi knew that a lot of psychics were shames – her dad had been pulled into some of their ‘schemes’ more than once – she still wasn’t about to let an opportunity to know _when_ her luck would change pass. Bad luck, at least in her family, could go on for a while, and she’d like to at least have a chance to get out of it.

“Come on, let’s go check him out.”

“What?” both Yugi and Masaki said as Jounouchi pulled them along, the group blinking at the number of people in line at Class A. Considering the gawdy get-up that Kokurano’s ‘cheerleaders’ were wearing, Jounouchi was beginning to doubt the wisdom of this.

Well, they were here, might as well see what he had to say.

They got in line, which was oddly short despite the amount of people in the room, and Jounouchi muttered about ‘bad psychics’, Masaki starting an argument about it was _Jounouchi’s_ idea so she shouldn’t be complaining…

Of course, they were shushed by Kokurano’s cheerleaders, and by a sudden, minor earthquake that went through the building. Kokurano took the moment after to show off a piece of paper he’d written that morning, predicting said earthquake, and getting a round of applause.

Jounouchi, Masaki, and Yugi shared looks as Masaki went up first. For one thing, none of them were stupid. For another, they all had ideas about what Kokurano was doing – Masaki was very no-nonsense, unlike some of the other girls in class who tended towards the whole ‘girly-girl’ attitude. Jounouchi had seen her dad and others fall prey to ‘false’ psychics, and what happened to said psychics if their predictions failed. Yugi worked in a store that _sold magic kits_ – Sugaroku had offered Jounouchi a job in a few weeks, and Yugi tended to bring over games and the like to show off during break.

After much rubbing of Anzu’s hand, despite the whole ‘I’m not a palm-reader, I have awesome psychic powers that don’t require that’ shtick earlier, Kokurano said that Masaki would meet up with a mysterious man who would ‘take her body and soul’. Masaki seemed to take this better stride than Jounouchi would – that sounded borderline creepy to her, and she walked up to offer her own hand.

Kokurano also molested her hand enough for her to know he was getting all sweaty ( _that’s just what I need_ ) before saying, “Jounouchi, you shall meet with someone who can take all your curses away.”

_That…sounds even more rape-y then Masaki’s…_ Jounouchi still hoped _part_ of that was true (not the ‘meet someone’ part, but the lack of curses one) before Yugi walked up and admitted he was a skeptic and had seen Kokurano’s tricks before.

_Take back everything Honda says, Yugi has_ balls _,_ Jounouchi thought, even as Kokurano went into some sort of throws before saying, “I see…I seeee…your future! Countless words from Heaven will pour down on you! I see calamity and destruction for you!”

Jounouchi and Masaki had leveled glared at the psychic then, heading back to their classroom before break ended. At the next one, both went to cheer up the moping Yugi.

“He’s a fake,” Jounouchi proclaimed, while Masaki shifted before saying, “Just…there’s this rumor. The event that made Kokurano so famous…another student from Class A had their house burn down three days _after_ Kokurano predicted it. The family was safe, but they’re in the hospital now.”

Jounouchi wondered if Masaki knew what ‘helping’ actually meant.

“I still don’t believe these predictions,” Yugi said, though he looked thoughtful afterwards.

“Considering he told me nothing about _when_ my luck would change, I don’t either,” Jounouchi huffed, crossing her arms.

Masaki shrugged. “Well, either way…” she considered a moment. “Are you two busy? I wanted to go shopping after school.”

Jounouchi and Yugi both shook their heads and the trio made plans. Honda was busy with something and Hanasaki, who Yugi sometimes hung out with to talk about that ‘Zombire’ comic and the toys, wasn’t feeling good. Despite being close friends, Jounouchi was glad that the three also had others to talk to, or at least had a good group of others that shared different hobbies. She and Honda liked to talk about things that she and Yugi didn’t, and while Masaki was a bit more ‘girly’ then Jounouchi, she wasn’t about to demand that Jounouchi and she have a sleepover or whatever. If anything, them being friends had fueled some perverts into thinking they were ‘into each other’.

The two waited for Yugi as he went to drop off a book someone had left in the library, Jounouchi heading out for a second to look for him as Masaki waited in the room. She seemed pressed for time, though Jounouchi wasn’t sure why just yet, and it was a bit confusing for Yugi to take so long in finding where the book needed to be returned to. While he wasn’t a bookworm, Yugi did still spend a great deal of time in the library, mostly looking up rules for games or double-checking his homework.

A muted sound drew Jounouchi back to the classroom, pausing as she spotted a glass vial on the ground. She quickly bent to pick it up, and looked back in to see Kokurano holding a half-conscious Masaki in his arms, laughing about having her ‘body and soul’.

“Hey!” Jounouchi yelled, getting the psychic to freeze and glance at her as she walked in, bottle behind her back. A desk nearby had a few sheets of paper still on it, and she casually leaned against that and glared at the smaller, sweatier guy. “So, what exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“I…I predicted this…I predict, and it comes true. It _must_ come true!”

Jounouchi didn’t like where this was going. “So just because you said she’d be with you, you have to ‘make’ the predictions come true?” anger and fear rolled through her, remembering the dire prediction he’d given Yugi. If he was so full of himself…

It took all her willpower not to move towards the library, instead shifting to show Kokurano the chloroform bottle on a small stack of papers, pulling out violently enough that the bottle teetered but didn’t fall over. He was close enough that, considering where she was now and where _he_ was, the bottle’s effect would be to put him to sleep for a good few hours.

Enough time to call a late-working teacher and expose him. If anything, it was enough to get Masaki away, and considering Jounouchi’s reputation, as well as Masaki’s, this guy knew that his ass was grass unless Jounouchi was the one put to sleep.

Jounouchi grabbed the topmost paper and pulled again, sending the bottle closer to Kokurano as he moved to try and stop it, Jounouchi glaring at him. “I ask again. _What the hell are you doing?_ ”

Kokurano let out a squeak before saying, “No, no, I was right. I…I said that…that you’re going to meet someone to get rid of the bad luck. I…I’m that person. You know I am!”

Another paper was pulled out, the bottle getting closer to the edge as Kokurano shrieked, “I’m psychic! I’m powerful! You can’t defeat me!”

She glared at him and the final paper he gripped suddenly, laughing a bit crazily as he pointed to a place just above where the bottle was, as if to prove something. “See? See? It’s flying. I made it fly…I made it…I…”

With that, he pulled the paper, and the bottle toppled to the floor. Jounouchi stepped away and around as Kokurano slumped, unconscious and with his large jacket, hiding various predictions ranging from the simple to the absurd, showing under his coat.

Masaki was, luckily, far enough away that Jounouchi didn’t get any of the fumes, and not too heavy to carry out as the door opened and Jounouchi spotted—

It wasn’t Yugi, at least in the same way that one who’d been in Yugi’s place after the director tried to beat them up wasn’t Yugi. He looked like Yugi, yeah, but there were differences. His eyes had a slight reddish glow to them, there were parts of yellow in his hair that weren’t there before, and he seemed a bit taller – Jounouchi wasn’t sure if Yugi was standing straighter or had simply grown a few inches. He appeared concerned, and asked, his voice slightly off from Yugi’s normally lighter, quieter tone, “Is Anzu alright?”

“She should be. Probably will have a headache and her mouth will taste like cottonballs for a bit…but she’ll be ok.” Jounouchi decided to head to the girl’s bathroom, asking the not-quite Yugi to get a teacher and deal with the fake psychic.

It took only a few minutes and a couple of splashes of water to wake Masaki up, but by the time they got to where the teacher was dealing with Kokurano, Yugi was back to his old self, though he looked far too relieved to see them.

After answering his questions and talking about pressing charges, the trio headed home, Jounouchi following Yugi for a bit longer than usual after Masaki got on her own bus home.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just…what happened back there?”

“Um...you said Kokurano knocked Anzu out and…”

She shook her head. “No, I mean…what did he do to you?” She really wanted to ask if he remembered getting into the classroom, but honestly she wasn’t sure how to without making it sound paranoid.

“um…when I was returning the book, he pushed over the book shelves and tried to crush me. I…” here, Yugi looked strangely confused, and his eyes seemed to focus more on the ground then Jounouchi. “I got out of the way. I got lucky. I was afraid, but I wanted to make sure no one else was hurt, and the librarian was really frightened and amazed and angry at whoever did it. I managed to get away and went to try to find you, and you had taken care of Kokurano by then.”

Jounouchi was silent a moment longer before she said, “If anything was wrong, you’d tell me, right?”

“y-yes, of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

Jounouchi could think of a reason, and finally gave him a smile. “No reason. Just know I’m here for you, Yugi.”

\--

Yugi shifted on the bed, worried about what Jounouchi had said. He _wanted_ to tell her the truth, wanted to say that between hearing and seeing the oncoming bookcase and finding himself with a teacher after apparently outlining all Kokurano had done, he didn’t remember anything.

_It’s getting worse_ , he thinks, swallowing and looking at the puzzle, _ever since I completed the puzzle, the blackouts are getting worse._

It wasn’t just blackouts either. Ushio had said he’d met Yugi at the school, but Yugi didn’t remember arriving or having anywhere _near_ 400,000 yen, let alone being able to raise that much in a short period of time. The director who’d said he’d turn Jounouchi into the bad guy had been found with his eyes torn out, saying all he saw was mosaic, and the footage had been destroyed. He didn’t even _want_ to contemplate what happened to Souzouji. He didn’t remember anything after Hanasaki had fainted, had woken up in bed without any problems and heard Hanasaki was fine.

_What’s happening to me? What does this mean?_

And today…today he’d been forced to lie to Jounouchi. He had tried to say it, but it was like _something_ had simply shown him or told him what to say, had pushed the words into his head so much that anything else was drowned out until he got home.

Not to mention that, at random times, he was just…tired. Fatigued in a way that made no sense, like he’d been up all night when he _knew_ he’d been sleeping.

“Grandpa said,” Yugi whispered, almost afraid of what talking to the puzzle meant, “that you’d give dark power and wisdom. I…I hoped it meant just a wish…what’s wrong with me?”

His whole body suddenly felt weighed down, slumping to the side as darkness started to close around him. Briefly, he thought he saw something, like a shadow with a strange, glowing eye in the middle of its forehead, standing next to the puzzle.

“please…please not again…please…” Yugi fell into darkness.

\--

The spirit huffed at the child’s unusual strength in fighting unconsciousness. He supposed he had that girl to blame for this, but he’d gotten careless. If both had noticed him, things would’ve gotten…awkward. He had no reason to purge their memories, and neither had committed offenses that warranted Shadow Games or even calling up the Shadows. Jounouchi was simply worried about the child, and Anzu would be as well.

He frowned at the use of their names as the child slept on. Since when did he become so attached to the friends of this one? He supposed it was how things went – at one point the child’s soul would be engulfed by his own, and he’d gain the boy’s image and, thus, identity for the time being. He didn’t think too much on it – the boy proved to be fast, despite not using his reflexes as he should, and could become strong, if he stopped fighting the changes.

The fighting and general panic had been what stopped him from judging the psychic as he wanted to, and Jounouchi’s exposure of him as a fraud had sent the petty thing over the edge anyway. He could do little more that wouldn’t be walking a line to sadism, something that he didn’t revel in.

The spirit sat in his room, contemplating the door beyond to the child’s Soul Room and his own, darker room. The puzzle and, thus, much of the landscape had been reshaped and touched by the child. Threads of him remained, the mortar holding the bricks in place and allowing light to shine in, no matter what the angle. It should be amazing, but the spirit isn’t so sure. Eight years of a hope can shine light into anything. Still, he supposes it’s something. It balances the dark, allows for shadows that aren’t as deep as if it wasn’t there, and keeps everything in scale. When his soul _does_ pass and allows the spirit hold over the child’s body, he knows the child will find his way to the Judges, and easily pass the trials given.

The spirit got back to wondering about his ties to the child’s friends, though he supposed it was tied into the child’s wish that he’d worked into the puzzle. It had sounded simple and foolish, the thoughts of one who didn’t understand the complexities of life. However, the more the spirit learned and observed, the more he could see how the two girls, and even the other, shy boy, were important to the child and how they would not betray him.

_He wished for friends that wouldn’t betray him and that he wouldn’t betray. By arriving at situations with the unjust and with his friends, or even himself, in danger, I’m able to fulfill my role._

It explained some of why he liked the group. Still, he couldn’t just rest on it. Stagnation was what allowed things to turn sour and vile, and a dose of light and dark were good to keep the Shadows from turning ugly from disuse. He could feel the few pulls of evil and misuse in the Shadows, more so then some time that he forgot.

The spirit frowned at the thought. It was yet another reason he was confused by his attachment to Jounouchi and Anzu – he knew he was old, as old as the Puzzle itself, and in control of the Shadows attached to the puzzle. However, he noted that younger, less experienced beings were holding other things like the Puzzle as well, and he wondered what they or the spirits connected to them would be like.

_If there are spirits_ , he thinks, almost bitterly. He concedes that the bitterness, only a less…dark form of that…is possibly why the child made the wish in the first place. People needed to be with others, not just alone.

_Then I will do what I can to protect the child’s friends and dispense justice. In the end, he’ll understand…and if not, then by then he won’t really be able to fight it anyway, so really it’s the same thing._

\--

It’s really Jounouchi’s idea that Honda talk to Yugi about his crush on Nosaka Miho. Not because she wanted to embarrass her friend (there were other, better ways to do that then getting Yugi, who tended to be sympathetic and quieter than most about what some guys would do for ‘love’) but more because she wanted to see if they were compatible.

Honda was still a friend. But he was also the friend that, despite picking on others with Jounouchi or helping her when dealing with issues outside of the gang she’d been part of in Rintama, he was a respectable-enough guy that he got into Domino High with no problem. It was also why he’d tried to run for class president, and was still fine with being ‘janitor’ or ‘beautification committee member’ or whatever he called it. But the big thing was that Jounouchi was trying to make money to pay off the few debts that remained. Her dad had stayed employed and managed to pay of many of his debts. Jounouchi’s continued paper route and work with Yugi’s grandfather at the game shop allowed her to pay off the lesser ones or start to pay off the larger ones, as well as gave the extra money for a rainy day.

Of course, it was her day at the Game Store that Yugi brought in Honda and they heard about the ‘blank puzzle’ idea. Honda, being the type of guy he was, asked Yugi to put down what Honda’s ‘true feelings’ were.

Jounouchi groaned. Honda had been pining for Miho ever since she conned him into getting a lunch for her. The whole thing was not reaching a point that possibly needed an intervention, but it’s getting close. Jounouchi is tempted to tell Honda to write his _own_ love-letter and leave Yugi out of it, but...well, Honda trusting Yugi with the puzzle is a good sign, especially after that whole ‘incident’ with the watch.

It’s something neither Yugi nor Jounouchi are really talking about because Yugi seems scared and Jounouchi doesn’t quite know what’s going on, so addressing it would mean talking around a lot of bad subjects. Subjects like ‘split personality’ and the rumors of what happened to those that bullied Yugi or his friends.

Honda had raced out, his face a deep red color as Yugi let out a breath and looked over at Jounouchi. “Is he always like this?”

“Only when it comes to people he has crushes on,” Jounouchi replied.

Yugi shifted a bit, looking down at the box before saying, “Um...was he ever like that for you?”

Jounouchi snorted. “Honda likes his girls traditional. I’m pretty far from that.”

Yugi looked unhappy at her frankness and she gave him a smile, pointing to her hair. “It’s naturally this color. So’re my eyes.” Yugi seemed unsurprised by this revelation, or even bothered by it. He also wasn’t giving her the look that Hirutani had given her, the one that said a few bad things about what would come next, had she not left and managed to get back home. She’d barely managed to avoid him and the gang during the break, as Dad was sobering up and she was getting ready for a new school.

Still, Yugi stayed up and wrote some cute sap for Honda, mixing up the puzzle pieces afterwards and wrapping it up to put in Miho’s desk before school. It was the only option that didn’t have her old friend sweating bullets, and she chuckled at how silly he looked.

“If she _does_ go out with you, you’d better grown a spine,” Jounouchi told him as they went to take their seats, “none of this ‘I’ll buy you whatever’ crap from before.”

“T-that was once!”

“That was once _and_ you nearly got Yugi hurt because you were a sucker,” Jounouchi pointed out. Honda looked rebellious before deflating. For all his attempts to be a delinquent, that was more his own problems, a lot of them at home, that had caused Honda to seriously consider moving in with his sister and her husband. Since Johji needed a decent role model, that move had only recently been made. For all his sister was a typical housewife now, she had been a bigger delinquent and head of a female gang, one of the most feared, before calming down. It seemed to run in the family - the only ones who _hadn’t_ grown up were Honda’s parents.

“Fine.”

She sighed and leaned against his desk as Yugi showed Masaki a new game marketed towards women, which she helped him review for his grandfather. Another added bonus of living and having a friend work at the shop was that you got to review some of the games earlier, or see if they reached the ‘target audience’. “Seriously, what’s up? Why the sudden need to go after some cute girl?”

“It’s not that and you know it.”

“Yeah, sure. So, what’s wrong?”

Honda sat back, looking annoyed at Jounouchi’s intuition and ability to tell what was wrong. “I don’t want to turn out like my parents is all. I moved out ‘cause they were doing stuff even that gang you were in wouldn’t do. Sis is thinking of asking for custody, at least until I emancipate myself or something.”

Jounouchi let out a breath, disliking how this sounded. She knew a few people who lived away from their family, but fewer who had the same problems that Honda did. Still, at least he was turning out ok.

“And...well, as stupid as I was as a kid, I would like to be a cop or something.” He kinda chuckled. “Big bad former gang-member turned cop, not even able to write down his feelings.”

Jounouchi chuckled. “This is the first time I’ve seen you so smitten. And at least you trusted Yugi to do it.”

Honda nodded then let out another breath. “You’re closer to him, as a friend, then you ever were to me.”

“You didn’t join the same gang I did, so I wouldn’t be.”

“Not what I meant.”

She glanced at him and let out another puff of air. Honda was right about the fact that they were _friends_ but not in the same, bad-pun way that she and Yugi were. Honda wasn’t one for games or some of the other stuff she liked, and though they had a shared history, that was really all they had.

“Well, at least the way things are going, you won’t arrest me anytime soon,” she told him with a wink as more people began to file into class and they took their seats.

The first few hours went by easily, with Honda fretting as Miho had yet to notice the box in her desk. Or, if she had, she didn’t mention it or look at it. Right before break, as luck would have it, Ms. Chouno came in.

\--

Yugi wasn’t sure who hated Ms. Chouno more - Anzu or Jounouchi. For one, she got great pleasure in working to make the rules stricter in school, to the point where she had expelled fifteen students in six months, as well as gotten numerous ones in trouble. Anzu was trying to get the lax rules back, especially for personal items, and Jounouchi just disliked women who wore ‘too much makeup’.

Yugi wasn’t sure what he felt about her. He wasn’t like a lot of the other boys who fawned over her, nor did he really like her style of teaching. She seemed to take too much pleasure in taunting students that got something wrong, or picking on them for minor indiscretions. She’d picked on Hanasaki a few days ago, mostly for his liking of that American comic called Zombire.

So her coming in to say they had a ‘surprise inspection’ was not good. Even less was her finding the gift that they’d left earlier that day.

Panic rose in him, but Yugi quickly shoved it down. If he panicked too much, he’d lose time again. He’d already lost time in the arcade, trying to get that watch back for Honda. He didn’t know what happened to that weird guy who had all the watches either, just knew that he’d gotten the watch back and, for some reason, the stopwatch was set at 10 seconds.

_I’m not losing time again! Not in the middle of class…_

Ms. Chouno had carelessly ripped open the package, mocking Yugi’s message. He’d been uncertain what else to write - he didn’t know Honda that well - and Miho looked miserable at the laughing.

She stopped short of seeing who wrote it, instead saying for the person who wrote it to answer, as this was obviously someone trying to start an ‘illicit affair’. Yugi was trembling but pushed down his fears. He couldn’t lose more time! But he also knew that Honda would stand and be expelled instead of risking more laughs and humiliation for Miho, so he stood and told the truth.

Jounouchi wasn’t far behind him, saying she’d put the box in the desk, and Honda stood as well, saying it was his feelings on the puzzle.

“One of you is lying! This can’t be right!”

“None of us are lying,” Honda said, the three staring her down before her amazed glance became a smirk.

“I just finish the puzzle, and I’ll know who’s the culprit.” He abruptly saw her face look evil, the smirk appearing to be almost sadistic as it said, “I can expel them and deal with those two! No one lies to someone like me!”

_Stop!_

_“No_ ,” he shivered at the dark command, feeling himself getting pushed back again, “ _She has stumbled into_ my _realm. She is my enemy, and seeks to hurt you and your friends. I will not let her. If she repents by the time the puzzle is completed, then I will allow her to not be humiliated._ ”

Yugi blanked out, blinking as he woke just when Ms. Chouno was running away, her face the evil one he’d seen earlier. A hand on his shoulder made him turn, shaking and looking at Jounouchi, who appeared worried. She didn’t smile, but she did give his shoulder a small squeeze, acting as a stabilizing presence. Despite the darkness, she could still be there.

\--

Miho and Honda _did_ go out, which was both great to know and also a bit odd. Firstly, Anzu had not been walking home with him recently, making Yugi’s fears of what was going on and about that darker presence in his mind multiply. While Jounouchi didn’t talk about it, or what happened to Ms. Chouno, she did seem to be there for Yugi and worked to help him avoid bullies.

So it was a bit of a surprise when they made it to Burger World to find Anzu worked there as a waitress. While Yugi was blushing over the costume, and Jounouchi was muttering about not having heard Anzu was allowed to work like she was, his longtime friend had glared at them when she delivered the burgers, muttering about ‘blabbermouths’.

“If you have a good reason, I don’t see why I should tell anyone,” Jounouchi pointed out, “and do you _really_ not trust Yugi?”

Anzu was silent a moment before saying, “I’m saving up money, so I can go study dance in New York.” A smile lit up her face and Yugi smiled back. Anzu had always been good at dance, and he’d not been sure she would continue with her passion after high school. Hearing it made him feel light and happy, despite the amount of ketchup that Anzu had put on their burgers.

Jounouchi had smiled back before saying, “I wouldn’t have said anything, Anzu.”

Yugi all but _beamed_ at that. Normally, Jounouchi and Anzu only went by their last-names, and often had minor fights about the oddest things. To hear her say that…

“I’m glad, Katsuye,” Anzu answered back before saying, “Those are on me. I have work.”

\--

The spirit watched silently, waiting as the police questioned those from in the restaurant. The prisoner had taken Anzu hostage, and hit her when she tried to warn the child away. He knew the child had been barely in control of his fear and emotions, and knew that the child also was afraid of what happened when he got angry or scared. But he hadn’t been able to help it, and since Anzu couldn’t see, and either could--

“Yugi,” Jounouchi spoke up, and the spirit nearly took over, knowing what she was going to say. He could easily erase her memories of him, but...aside from the _wrongness_ of it, he had a feeling that Yugi would know and would fight him harder than he had before. Even when dealing with that teacher who deserved all she got, he’d been fighting and afraid of the spirit and his powers.

“We should wait for Anzu,” Jounouchi said, sitting next to him and finally wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Quietly, she whispered, “I saw. I don’t know what that…other you…is, but I’ll help. I’ll do all I can.”

The spirit frowned at the label as the child – his ‘other self’, apparently – sniffed and appeared ready to cry. Still, the two remained seated until Anzu walked over, the trio leaving the area and, luckily, walking far enough away and alone before she said, “The other you…he…”

She shivered, and he frowned at them both. The man was evil, had threatened Anzu and would’ve gone after the others – after the other people in the restaurant, or even Jounouchi, if he’d been threatened too much. He was irredeemable and, thus, needed to be killed. He’d taken the opportunity to do so, and had ensured their safety.

“I…I know,” his other self said, swallowing. “I heard. I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you in danger.”

Jounouchi let out an unfeminine snort. “The prisoner put us in danger, Yugi. The other you was…a bit sadistic about getting us out is all.” The spirit wanted to protest, all things considered, until Jounouchi continued, “Are you ok?”

“I…I don’t know. I’m afraid…afraid of the other me, of what he might do.” The spirit was silent as Yugi swallowed, “He…he only seems angry at people who are bad, or who are trying to hurt others, but…but after what happens to them…I can’t…I can’t accept it. I don’t want anyone else hurt, not like that.”

The spirit was tempted to point out that the convict had chosen to sit and play the game – there was nothing that anyone could do. Those that called the Shadows, especially the darker ones that he was finding, were far more prone to being killed or hurt then ones like Ms. Chouno, who called to it but had the ability to learn from it. He was getting better at telling those differences, at least. Still, there was a chance the two girls would try to take the puzzle, or even just remove whatever influences he had on Yugi.

It wasn’t up to them if he remained or not, though. He was settled into his other self’s mind, and the Shadows had wrapped around the body, enjoying the few moments of anger that the other self felt, and wishing to teach him more about what they could do. The spirit was pleased but also a bit confused by their actions, but decided to look into it later.

“I…you won’t…”

“This doesn’t change our friendship,” Jounouchi pointed out, “it just means we’ll help you with whatever you need, so you don’t have to worry about the other you.”

Anzu nodded. “We’ll do what we can to help you, Yugi. We’re not going to abandon you.”

He felt his other self’s sadness ebb away, a smile on his face as he said, “Thank you. I…I’ll do my best…too.”

Jounouchi gave him a hug, then Anzu did, before Jounouchi said, “I have to get home. I’ll see you both in class on Monday.”

His other and Anzu waved before walking to Yugi’s home, Anzu saying, “You don’t have to be afraid of losing us, Yugi. We’ll always be here for you.”


	3. Hirutani

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Jounouchi's past is revealed as Yugi must make a deal with the spirit in the puzzle to find her before it's too late.

Part 3: Hirutani

Yugi was doing his best to not panic, or think that it was his fault that Jounouchi didn’t arrive to school on Monday. She could, after all, have gotten sick.

By Friday, Anzu had to remind Yugi that Jounouchi could have family problems, or that it could be something outside of school. Even Grandpa was getting worried, with Jounouchi having not called in to say what was wrong and why she was missing work. No one had answered the phone number Jounouchi had given his grandpa either, and the only comfort that Yugi had was the fact that the number was connected.

Despite having recently started dating Miho, Honda suggested going to Jounouchi’s house, since he was the only one who knew where she and her father lived.

That was another thing that worried Yugi, as they headed to one of the seedier parts of Domino City. Though he and Jounouchi had been friends for nearly half the school year, he’d had yet to really know a lot about her or her past. He knew she went to the same middle school as Honda, had gotten into various fights, but beyond that, Jounouchi had been very quiet about her past, and Honda had not volunteered the information before.

At the same time, Yugi also guessed that Jounouchi’s mention about her hair and eyes was as close as she’d get to mentioning that she wasn’t fully Japanese either. He didn’t mind that fact – it made Jounouchi who she was, and he wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world. Plus, Grandpa had a lot of international friends, even if most of them couldn’t visit. While Mom and Dad were very conservative in their ideals, Grandpa wasn’t, and honestly, Sugoroku had raised Yugi a bit more then Dad or Mom.

They slowly headed up the steps to room 301, the sign saying ‘Jounouchi’ but a polite knock bringing no one to the door. Anzu shifted, obviously uncomfortable, while Honda tried the door handle, frowning as it opened.

“I…guess I can check…” he muttered quietly, the three crowding to try and take a peak just as a bottle came flying at the door, crashing and making Anzu shriek in terror. Yugi caught sight of a pair of work boots and a few days worth of alcohol on the floor, the man inside the room muttering, “h-hasn’t been –hic – back in days…” there was something muttered in English, Yugi understanding a curse word before they swiftly closed the door, running back down the stairs. Honda looked like he wanted to say something, about the man or Jounouchi’s situation, but instead he just said, “let’s check the usual areas…maybe someone saw her there.”

The search for her took them to a nearby mall, finally resting after an exhaustive search of the area. Yugi was almost ready to suggest they go back and ask the man, probably Jounouchi’s father, when they saw a small gang nearby, a few of them threatening one of the men nearby and a shop-owner.

 Honda glared at them, muttering about gangs from Rintama High, before Yugi noticed one of the ‘boys’. His hair was the same color and cut as Jounouchi’s, and when one of the men pulled him in, he also noticed the figure.

“Wait…that’s…” Yugi blinked, but he _knew_ he was right, and quickly raced over. “Jounouchi!”

\--

The divorce had not done Katsuye or Sansone any favors, when it all came down to it. Sansone had taken to drinking heavily, and could hardly keep down a job as a salaryman because of it. Katsuye, in the meantime, rebelled against every girlish trait her mother had attempted to push on her. It was only the thin veil of school rules that pushed her into skirts at all, and she started fights with larger boys far more often than with the girls who were picking them.

That had been the point when Hirutani approached her.

Hirutani was a few years older than her and did his own thing. No one was scared of him, and for a year or more, Katsuye was enamored by him and his gang.

Then there’d been a failed beat, and she’d met Layla Naunet. The woman had not taken any of Katsuye’s back-talk, had marched her home, and had been the first positive female presence in Katsuye’s life since Shizuka was taken away.

Of course, her dad’s drinking continued. Sansone was nothing if not persistent, and his debts had not helped. When Katsuye found one of Hirutani’s guys at her home, trying to get her location out of Sansone with alcohol and saying how ‘sweet she was between the sheets’, that had ended what little attempts Katsuye had at disillusioning herself about her Dad being able to keep his temper, as well as how bad his aim was, when drunk.

It had also shown her, exactly, the type of person Hirutani really was.

The gang member had been thrown out and broken his arm in a fall down the stairs. The police were called because of screaming and the sound of bottles being thrown. The only good part of the whole thing was that her dad was a _truthful_ drunk, and the police took the gang member away while Katsuye was left to deal with Dad.

That was when the Deal had been struck. Katsuye wouldn’t pick fights, would try to get somewhere in school. For that, Sansone would take up a job he was good at, and stop drinking.

The long weekend had set in, and Katsuye had finally called up Layla in fear as her dad went through withdrawal. Layla had talked her through the rough night, come over the next day with cures for Sansone, and been the first to compliment Katsuye’s attempts at a bracelet.

“It’s very pretty,” she’d said, looking at the wires and small beads woven in.

“It’s cheap,” Katsuye muttered, glad that her dad wasn’t awake to hear it. “Cheap like its creator. That’s what everyone says.”

Layla had lightly hit her on the head for that. “I won’t have you insulting yourself, Katsuye. It takes imagination to make something like this, all things considered, and you should at least _try_ to sell them.”

She had, though Layla had taken the bracelet at ‘payment’ for helping Dad. A few of the others that owned Dad money were glad to let her sell items near their places of business, or make pieces from discarded coins and the like. One even taught her some more about appraisal, saying she had a good eye for such things, and another had hired her on, briefly, to help with cooking when she’d brought in some decent lunches for herself.

Dad’s end of the deal held up, and he got a job in construction. It didn’t pay as well as the job he’d hated, but he was happy in it, and had friends who seemed to understand his need to not drink or gamble, and a boss that was understanding and not distrustful of foreigners. Katsuye’s end held up, and she headed to Domino High instead of Rintama, got away from Hirutani and his bad influences, and made friends with Yugi and Anzu. She wasn’t quite the same level of friendship as she had been with Honda, and teased him for trying to be noble when she’d seen him at his worse, but she was happy.

When Hirutani found her, a few days after Yugi had admitted to that dark alter-ego and Katsuye had sworn to not leave him, he knew where to threaten her. A few of his goons were even laughing as he casually smirked around a lit cigarette.

“You really want your friends to get beaten up every day? What about that pretty little girl who works, doesn’t have anyone to help her home? What’s gonna happen to her, if I decide to take it out of her ass and not yours, my little mutt?”

\--

Jounouchi managed to beat off most of the gang, but five-on-one was not exactly good odds, even for guys who were better at brawling. Still, she made sure to get in as many good hits as humanly possible before they’d managed to get her down, one even coping a feel before Hirutani glared at them. Hirutani liked to find himself some pretty girls like Jounouchi – half Japanese and something else, or even just foreign ones, and treat them like shit. He’d only decided to latch onto Jounouchi as some sort of ‘queen’ for him. It’d been part of his attempt to get her back, before threats had gotten her to finally cave.

“My dear Katsuye…still haven’t learned your place, huh? I guess it’s time I teach you some manners.”

She glared at them, half-tempted to yell at him in English, just to piss him off. He always hated it when she spoke English, liked it better when she was a ‘good foreign mutt’ and spoke Japanese. Still, she could hold in her taunts for a bit.

“Time for us to take you to our torture chamber, teach you where your place is.”

They hit her once more, dazing her enough so that their trip to the abandoned and run-down warehouse was a blur. She was still a bit out of it as Hirutani ordered them to tie her hands up, but not badly enough that she couldn’t still struggle and fight back. One guy doubled-over in pain as she landed a hard kick to his nuts, another backhanding her for fighting back as Hirutani watched, smirking. The one she’d kicked recovered, hitting her hard and, without Hirutani protesting the hits, that seemed to call open-season for the next few minutes.

“You look good there, Katsuye. All strung up and quiet.”

She spat out at them, smirking when one looked almost affronted. “Everything looks good here…compared to your baboons.”

That earned another few hits, Hirutani shaking his head. “You really are the perfect one to be my second, my queen. We were the talk of the whole school, and plenty of others besides that. And you never learned your lesson, never learned your place by my side.”

Jounouchi winced at the last hit but still leveled a glare at Hirutani. The man wouldn’t take a hint. She should’ve taken Layla up on her offer to ‘talk’ to him, but at the time there’d just been too much going on, and Jounouchi had thought she could handle it. It _had_ been handled, until Hirutani got it into his head that he could just restart a gang and not have a few of them pissed off.

“Your lessons never did sink in…you’re just a lousy teacher.” She smirked a bit as he glared at her. “Then again, you’re just as bad of a student. ‘No’ means ‘no’, you stupid gorilla.”

Hirutani looked even more annoyed before he smirked. “Well, this time, I’m going to have give you a better lesson then just pounding you…” The other gang members chuckled darkly as they pulled out stun guns, causing Jounouchi to try to hold back her fear at the sight of them. Stun guns were not the most conventional weapons used by gangs, but they were also ones that Hirutani liked to use, even when they’d been in middle school. She’d hoped his love of them had gone away.

“Here, girl, wanna taste?” one of them said, getting closer to Jounouchi. Her hands moved to grip the rope above her and she pulled herself up, using the momentum to kick the man in the face and send him sprawling.

Unluckily, that didn’t stop anyone else, and one of them close enough that she barely got her feet on the ground before it hit her and she couldn’t hold back a scream.

\--

_Let me help._

The rain was pouring down and Yugi stopped, shaking at the intruding voice. It was more a strange collection of ideas, with half-formed words.

_I can find her._

“No…you’re lying.”

_She touched the puzzle, and her thoughts became part of it. I can find her. I will punish those that hurt her._

Yugi shivered at the thought, trying to think it was the rain and not the memories of the other bullies. He couldn’t…he…

_They will kill her if you don’t let me help you._

He couldn’t argue with his other side, not about something like this. Jounouchi was in danger, and his fear shouldn’t trap him…Hirutani and his gang would do bad things, and…

_Focus. Think of her._

He did. He felt something odd in him open as he held onto the puzzle, as he tried to concentrate on Jounouchi. The darkness (it wasn’t total, it was more like a full-moon night, in the park or away from city lights) slowly turned into an image – a broken warehouse, rain pouring in, and…

_JOUNOUCHI!_

She was hurt, her eyes open but unseeing, body twitching with pain. One of them came up and cut away the shirt she was wearing, smirking as he reached in to touch her. “Maybe we should see if we can get a new type of scream from her.”

He didn’t realize the other was in charge until he heard him yell, “Stop!” Yugi also can’t find the strength to calm the dark rage that’s built up inside of his other side.

\--

The Shadows were pushing against his limitation, and he could understand why. Jounouchi was, in a way, responsible for their reawakening. He’s not sure, but it feels as if they are…caged, and while the spirit cannot remember much of his old life, or know much about the Puzzle, he supposes that means there is more than one item like the Puzzle in the world, and that the people using them fall into a category that requires him to find and confront them.

That, he supposes, will have to happen later, after he’s gained enough control of this body to make it his own, and not simply a shared one. For now, he had to deal with these _thugs_. It was easy enough to direct the Shadows to circle the men, to cut them off from any escape and to ensure Jounouchi was protected. His trap was already set, and glancing at the group, it was easy enough to let the Shadows mark them.

He didn’t let his smile waiver as the Shadows began to clamor for the soul of the leader, the one who’d stepped forward and threatened to hurt Jounouchi in a way that he couldn’t think of, not without causing the Shadows to nearly show themselves prematurely, or for the soul of the other one inside of him to stir and fuel their anger.

None of them had seen the Shadows preparing, and he noted that the leader wasn’t taking the same chances that he was making the gang members take.

He was still on enough of the water that he’d get a shock, and if he didn’t take the first punishment…well, he had many others lined up.

“Wait, don’t!” the leader said, getting one of his men to stop from starting up the semi-depleted tasers. He felt the Shadows flex again, but pulled them in as he noted they hadn’t noticed the trigger in time…well, not the real one, at least.

All of them froze when they heard their fallen companion mutter, hand shifting enough off the piece of bar he’d put it on before it fell into the water, the power on and, unlike the others, still fully charged.

Hirutani jumped back and turned towards Jounouchi, racing and pulling out a knife as his men screamed, the shocks making them convulse in pain. The Shadows eagerly surrounded him, hungry and causing him to jump back in shock, turning as the spirit stepped between him and Jounouchi.

“You…you bastard…what are you?”

“Someone who wants to play a game, since you so rudely ran from the other one.” He smirked at the shadows shifted, Hirutani blinking and looking around in confusion.

“Mirrors?”

“These are rather special,” the spirit told him. “They’re really a maze. At the end of it is your freedom. Let’s see if you can survive.”

Hirutani snorted then said, “I want one more.”

“You’re hardly in a position to negotiate. Your men are senseless, at least one never able to fight again. Your little ‘attempt’ to put a gang together and terrorize Domino failed. I don’t see why I should even consider giving you leniency.” He’d been lenient enough by telling the thug that he was in a _maze_ , not just letting him crash into walls for hours.

Hirutani toyed with his knife for a bit, obviously nervous. The Shadows were already starting to get to him, and he smirked and pointed the knife at where the spirit stood. “you’re here for that mutt, for Katsuye.” The spirit thought he had wonderful control, not just letting the shadows eat him then and there. “You made the maze, so you know the way out easy enough. And besides, I get out…then what? You’d better give me incentive.”

 “Stay in the maze for a bit. I’m sure you’ll find escape to be incentive enough.”

“I want Katsuye, when I get out.”

“You don’t get her. She is her own person.”

“ _She’s mine_ ,” Hirutani yelled, looking ugly, “She’s been mine, and I’m not letting some little shit like you claim her. She belongs at my side, as my queen, and I’m not giving her up so easily.”

“She is her own person,” the spirit repeated as the Shadows growled, wanting to eat Hirutani instead of play with him. He held them at bay, reminding them of their task. To simply kill Hirutani, even if he deserved it, would not be just. “If you escape here, you can see about finding her. But I will not make any promises to give another person over to you. I can only promise you what you’ll want.”

Hirutani threw his knife, and the spirit vanished as the first mirror shattered and the game began.

He left the thug in the mirror-prison, pulling in the Shadows and going to help Jounouchi. The few that hung around her had worked to untie her and slowly lower her to the ground, her eyes unfocused and her body still in shock from what they had done. Her shirt was still torn, but luckily there was no cut on her from where Hirutani had used his knife. He started to button up her jacket when a hand weakly grabbed his, eyes focusing a bit on him and looking afraid.

“w-wh-“ he could see her resolve harden suddenly, the attempt to stay awake and protect her friend. “y-yugi…”

“We had to find you,” he told her simply, “Hirutani and the others won’t bother you again.”

“…y-yugi…wh-where…”

“He’s here.” The spirit let go of his control, letting Yugi come forward as he watched from the edge of Yugi’s consciousness, seeing how Jounouchi visibly relaxed when she was sure that Yugi was alright.

“Jounouchi…” Yugi swallowed, trying not to cry. She managed a small smile at him before muttering something about ‘passing out’ and falling unconscious.

\--

Jounouchi ended up in the hospital after the ambulance and police arrived. Anzu had called them when she realized what was going on, and out of fear of what Jounouchi had to go home to. While Honda didn’t seem pleased with the idea, he also didn’t complain too loudly, especially after the paramedics suggested the stay and the doctor insisted on it. She also let them call her dad, despite protests from Anzu and Honda.

“First of all, you both don’t know him,” she told them, arms crossed despite the IV, “and second, I want to see this for myself. I’m not a child, you don’t have to protect me from something I already know.”

Yugi stayed, having already called his grandpa to explain why he was out late, and because he felt he should be there. He was afraid for her, and knowing that he’d had to use his other self, how tired he’d been after the odd darkness that had taken him to Jounouchi’s whereabouts…

“Yugi…I…” she started, shifting a bit. “Why did you…do that?”

“I was afraid of what they were going to do to you,” he muttered, “I…I didn’t want to, but…but when we realized they’d taken you somewhere, and I couldn’t find you, I…”

He wanted to say more, but that was when there was the sound of what could be a dispute, and a tall man stumbled into the room, his eyes bloodshot and his clothing looking messed up. He blinked when he saw Jounouchi there, as if confused by seeing her there.

“Two days…” he muttered, “you went with that damned boy and--.”

Jounouchi said something to him in English, the two talking and rapidly getting angrier as the conversation continued. Yugi knew enough English to know that they were talking about what happened, but he couldn’t follow the conversation well enough to really know what was going on. All he could guess at was their stances – Jounouchi’s father was still drunk, and Jounouchi herself was very upset by whatever he was saying.

“Get out!” Jounouchi finally yelled, picking up a nearby vase and throwing it at her father, barely missing him and getting Yugi to jump in surprise. “You don’t get to call me that, you goddamn no-good drunk!”

The two fell silent, her father spitting out something in English before leaving, pushing the nurse away as Jounouchi hugged herself, shivering despite the heated room.

“Jounouchi…”

“please, Yugi…please just leave. Don’t tell Honda, or Anzu. I…it’s not how it looks.”

He did, because Jounouchi’s family was…well, her family. He couldn’t see a reason—

\--

_No good drunk…_

He hated it. He hated that she’d called him that. Granted, considering he’d been drinking to keep the hangover he was now suffering through away, he deserved every word she’d leveled at him.

_And then you went and said_ that _to her._

He really hated hangovers. It was why he’d done what he could to spend two days drunk without completely risking alcohol poisoning. It’d been the first time in nearly a year, but old habits didn’t die easily. And damn him for even letting that bastard get him back into drinking. Damn him for not going to find her the _minute_ he heard it, instead of letting the bastard slip him more and more alcohol…

_You were worried enough already, then you just_ let him _get you drunk._

He downed more water and contemplated getting aspirin to deal with the migraine. He decided against it, mostly on the fact that he didn’t quite remember if he had any alcohol still in the house to tempt him before he put it down the sink like the rest. He should probably go…somewhere. Anywhere but here.

Sansone blinked as the lights flickered, trying to clear his head. It’s bad enough he said _that_ to Katsuye, let alone that he’d gone to see her while still drunk and in a foul mood. He should’ve—

“Ah, there you are,” the young man said, his hair flared out and with strands of gold. He recalled a picture of Katsuye and a similar young man, smiling in front of something, that she’d put up on the fridge. It was, of course, lost during his binge. “I didn’t think it’d be too hard to find you.” The young man was not at all polite, and far too confident and condescending to be talking to a man with a hangover.

The lights flickered again, making the room feel darker and the air more oppressive then before. He frowned before saying, “What do you want?”

“To play a game,” he motioned to the scattered dominos on the table. Sansone had pulled them out to play against Katsuye, before that guy had come in. Now, they were covered in stale beer and he didn’t want to remember what-else, from his binge. “Dominos should work well. What do you say?”

He let out a sigh and winced, a bit of his old anger surfacing. “You broke in…to play a game?”

“I came here to deal with you. You hurt Jounouchi.”

He wasn’t going to deny it. Still…”Doesn’t give you the right to be here. And I’m not going to play a game with you when I need to get over a hangover. I wasn’t even that stupid when I went out to gamble before…” he stopped, hating how honest hangovers made him. _And you would have another one that you were awake to experience. Idiot._

“Are we going to play or not?”

“No, we’re not going to play a damned game!” Sansone winced and sat down, looking at the blank dominos in front of him. “I don’t play games, and especially not with weirdo kids that break in ‘cause I hurt my daughter.”

The kid looked annoyed. “This isn’t like those other games.”

“Then I _really_ don’t want to play it. I’m done putting my happiness and hers up on the line ‘cause I can’t back down from something.” He glared at one and flipped it over. 1/1, figured. “You’re not the first person to see how things go and think that I’m a bad father. I’m not the first to say I’ve been that great either…I was able to stay sober for a while, before the divorce, but that was only by gambling. Then I got drunk because I was ashamed. I do circles around my own tail, and they didn’t end…well,” he waved his hand at the room. “For me and Katsuye, they ended badly. She stuck with me ‘cause her mom would’ve pushed her in a way that I wouldn’t. She went with Hirutani, the first time, because she thought that was what she wanted. I don’t know what made her go this time, though I’m guessing the guy threatened someone close to her.”

The young man was silent, as if considering as Sansone moved the pieces around, but didn’t flip any others over. “I was supposed to sober up and tell her that Layla came in and dropped me in the tub, told me to get my head out my ass. I didn’t, because finding out she was in the hospital…” he doesn’t finish that sentence. “It’s hard on a parent, knowing their kid’s been hurt and not being able to protect them. Parents are supposed to take care of their kids.” Another sigh, but luckily the migraine was downgrading. Probably just needed more water, and to piss out all the remaining alcohol. Or sweat it out. He seemed to recall that’s what he did, last time. “Layla offered a good place for Katsuye to stay, and I’m letting her stay there. My supe got me into a…good program. Once I’m better, once I know I can do this, or once she just busts back into my life like always, then we’ll be a family again. But…I can’t. Not after that.”

“You are going to tell her.” The kid sure was bossy, and apparently not taking the hint to leave him the hell alone with his grief.

“I was going to. I will, now. We both said things we’re going to have to apologize for…” he chuckled, looking up at the kid now. “We’re a lot alike, you know? Same temper, same bad luck. Well, not Katsuye. She’s gotten better luck, at least now she does.”

The young man is silent before saying, “I am sorry to have bothered you. I was…angry, after what happened with the gang. I thought you were hurting her even more.”

Sansone nodded slowly, not wanting the migraine to come back. “I got it. Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt her…either way, I got worse people to worry about then you if I do.”

The young man said nothing to that, only left out the door. Sansone sighed and went to drink some more water before calling the hospital to see if Katsuye would let him talk to her.

\--

Anzu didn’t look impressed at the news, though she was glad that Jounouchi was back in school and had managed to make up all the work she’d missed, while being ‘held as a hostage’ by the now-missing Hirutani and his gang. It hadn’t take much to get one to confess that they’d blackmailed Jounouchi into joining the gang, or that they’d spiked her father’s drinks so he’d return to alcohol. All the same, news that she’d be staying with a family friend was not something Anzu wanted to hear.

“Dad’s only in a bad way when he’s drinking,” Jounouchi argued, looking annoyed, “and we’ve had those fights before. We get too pissed at each other to really think straight. And Layla’s a good person. She got me out of a bad situation, and helped with Dad before I came here.”

Yugi knew Anzu a while, though, and knew that she wanted to help but, at the moment, couldn’t figure out _how_. Honda had also vouched for Jounouchi’s new ‘roommate’, and they were supposed to meet up this weekend before Jounouchi and he helped Grandpa at the store and Anzu went to her new job. Apparently, someone had touched her butt at one of the other restaurants she’d worked at, and her retaliation was not appreciated by the staff…officially. Unofficially, most of the other female workers were glad to see the perverted asshole leave.

Anzu finally relented as Jounouchi tapped on the small grouping of cards he’d brought. “Ok, so…explain the rules for this game again. What is it, like menko?”

“No, it’s a trading card game…Duel Monsters.”


	4. The Kaiba Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit goes up against Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, not realizing their mental states. Yugi goes up against a digital pet and the dangerous Dragon Cards, and learns something about the powers his other side wields, and about balance.

Part 4: The Kaiba Brothers

Their work on the weekend was mostly helping set up for a small, local game to promote Duel Monsters. It’d recently gained a lot of popularity with kids, but then again, most of the stuff in Muto’s shop gained popularity because he let Yugi and Jounouchi test it out at school. So others saw them playing it and, curious or wanting to learn more, came to the store, or another one, and bought it up.

Duel Monsters in general was somewhat bigger in Japan then in its originating country of America. She wasn’t sure why, and no one seemed to have a very straight-forward answer either. A lot thought it had to do with the American champion, a guy named Keith Howard, getting ‘schooled’ on national TV and the game becoming more aimed at children instead of adults who wanted rare items. The shift was…well, not weird, but understandable because more of the younger generation played the game, and it was becoming more accessible to various people, instead of a few. Sugoroku said it was a bit better – his first few cards had come from a friend who also liked games, and who had managed to get a good collection of them together from the first series print. The game was going through various redesigns to make it more accessible to everyone.

“Ok, so each plane is different, and depending on which playing set we have, I could have an advantage,” she explained to one kid who’d come in and gotten a few of the cheaper (most reproduced, less shiny) cards. “So I play my dragon in the mountain area here,” she put down the card labeled “Dark Dragon”, on the mountain area and explained, as Yugi had, about the attack and like. The kid nodded, looking over his cards, before pulling out a Zombie to play on the graveyard area, defending.

Jounouchi smiled at him. “Good move! The Zombie is at home there, so his defense and the dragon’s attack are the same. If I attack, both monsters are gone, and we have to try again.

This went on for a few more hours, Jounouchi playing a few more games with kids and having a ‘demonstration game’ against Yugi, which she lost as he had slightly better cards and the plane didn’t have the plains ( _sogen_ ) or mountain ( _yama_ ). They had just cleaned up the area so Sugoroku could show off his ‘ultra-rare’ card when a taller, older kid came in. He wore a suit that Jounouchi didn’t recognize, though she did remember that he’d just transferred in after…something.

It hadn’t been explained and, well, the rumor mill in the school tended to consist of people warning others about what happened to people that picked on Anzu, Honda, Miho, Yugi, or Jounouchi, or some guys thinking that Jounouchi and Anzu were lesbians together.

“Oh, hey, welcome,” she said with a smile, “Um…Kaiba, right?” She bowed briefly and said, “I’m Jounouchi, from your class?”

“Oh…yes, you sit near me,” he said, smiling a bit, “I noticed there was a Duel Monsters event here?”

“It’s almost over,” one of the kids said, looking happy at the small collection of cards he had, “Mr. Muto is going to show us his really-rare card!”

Jounouchi blushed as Kaiba’s eyes moved from the kit back to her, and to the apron she’d made with the Kame Game Shop logo on it. Staying at the hospital was boring, ok? “Sorry. We mostly were just introducing them to the game and did a few demonstration games. We could set up a table again, if Mr. Muto doesn’t mind.”

“You’re joking,” Kaiba muttered, getting Jounouchi to frown before he said, “I compete at a national level. I doubt you’d be able to make a dent!”

 _I might, there’s no need to be such an ass,_ she thought, but kept it to herself. She wasn’t losing her job here just because a classmate was being an idiot. She wouldn’t be able to get through class if her temper was still that bad. “Well, it’d depend on the plane, right?” she shrugged, “I only just learned how to play, so a lot of my stuff is beginner’s luck.”

He seemed thoughtful as a few kids asked about having another battle, now that Kaiba was here and someone else could talk to them about Dueling. Sugoroku chuckled and agreed as he and Yugi put up a new table while the two who got in before Kaiba and hadn’t managed to Duel did a quick coin toss to see who went first and picked the plane. “It would. I try to have a balanced deck, in case of any plane, but I also have a lot of stronger monsters. Yourself?”

“I mostly have warriors and dragons,” she said, “but I’ve only gotten a few cards, and traded some with Yugi. I got hammered ‘cause one of the planes put me next to the sea.”

He nodded. “A few dragons could deal with that, but the warriors…not so much. How long have you been playing?”

She blushed even more. “’bout three days. I just got out of the hospital, remember?”

He frowned at the news, nodding. “I don’t listen to rumors. And I wasn’t sure…are you feeling better?”

“A bit, thanks.” They watched the duel, Kaiba pointing out tips for one of the kids while Yugi and Jounouchi helped the other. Kaiba didn’t complain, saying it was only fair, since he had a trophy and they didn’t. The kid he was helping won, Kaiba smiling at his happiness as the other sighed, but it was a close game and Kaiba said, “You both do pretty well together. And your strategy was a sound one, Yugi.”

Yugi beamed, which he generally did, and Sugoroku chuckled before saying he’d show off the ‘ultra-rare’ card. The group gathered around as he pulled out a small box, explaining he’d gotten the card from a friend, right when Duel Monsters was more popular with adults and the cards were harder to find, before opening it up and showing it. “Ta-da! This is the--.”

“The Blue-Eyes White Dragon,” Kaiba muttered, looking at it with what Jounouchi would consider something close to love as Sugoroku explained that some cards, like this one, were rare due to being limited editions or that they’d quit producing them.

“In this case, there are only about ten or twenty of this one,” he said, “they stopped after that one, and made a few others.”

Kaiba seriously looked shaken that Sugoroku would have that card, and said, “Old man, I’ll trade--.”

“No.”

Jounouchi and everyone blinked. “You could’ve waited for him to say _what_ he’d trade.”

Kaiba seemed frustrated at the interruption as well, but composed himself. “I agree.”

Sugoroku looked abashed and finally said, “The thing is, I got this from a friend in America, one I don’t see that often, or even talk to a great deal. I’m able to look at this card and remember how close we were and the good times we had. It’s important to me, one of the reasons I don’t show it that often, and why I wouldn’t put in my deck, at least not right now.” He shrugged. “All those cards you can offer me wouldn’t have the same connection, I’m afraid. If I was playing a deck with it, I might take you up…but I’m not. Sorry.”

Kaiba seemed to deflate, or at least lost a lot of the happier look he’d had earlier, and nodded. “Fine. I suppose I’ll see you both in school,” he left, a few kids considering before paying for their cards and leaving as well, Jounouchi putting up her apron to go home. Outside, Layla waited, smiling at Yugi when she saw him. Yugi had come to visit Jounouchi at the hospital and get help with his English homework, and had met her there the day before Jounouchi had been cleared to leave.

Layla Naunet was not as tall as Jounouchi, and had dark hair that she tied back and kept long. She smiled when they came out, her dark eyes looking excited at something. “You had a celebrity here.”

“Huh?” Yugi asked, confused.

“I saw the limo and its logo. Someone from KaibaCorp.”

A memory of his introduction clicked. “Oh, yeah, he’s in our class. I guess he’s a big gamer kid like Yugi.”

“Who?”

“Um…Seto, his name was,” Jounouchi told Layla. Like her dad, Layla was foreign, though she had never mentioned from where. A few thought maybe Southern Europe or the Middle East, while others thought the Americas, or just that she was of mixed ancestry, but no one was sure and she’d never confirmed any of the rumors.

Of course, she also tended to use first-names instead of honorifics, considering them ‘too confusing’ and often getting people who just met her, like Anzu, to think she was ‘too friendly’ or something. Jounouchi, luckily, could understand her, and Yugi didn’t seem to mind, as a lot of people were overly-friendly with him, using his first name instead of his last.

She hummed in thought before saying, “Ok, time to go. It was good to see you again, Yugi.”

“You too,” he said cheerfully as the two headed back to Layla’s apartment. She made enough money at her job (secretive as it was) to afford an apartment closer to Yugi’s and Anzu’s, instead of one near where Jounouchi had once lived with her dad. Considering how things were going for him, as well as the fact that, without rent to pay, Jounouchi was getting through a lot of the back-bills they had, things were better, at least.

“What did he come by for?” Layla asked.

“Who?”

“Seto Kaiba,” Layla said, sounding a bit like she was planning something. Layla tended to do that.

“He wanted to see what type of Duel Monster cards Yugi’s grandpa had. He got all gooey-eyed over a rare one, a…Blue-eyes white dragon.” Layla seemed surprised. “I don’t name the cards.”

“No, but that’s a very specific name. Are they all like that?”

Jounouchi handed them over as she said, “Anyway, he was really nice, up until Mr. Muto said he wouldn’t trade that card. Mr. Muto was a bit rude about it, but he had a good reason to not trade it, at least.” She shrugged, taking back her cards after Layla was done looking through them. “It was a fun day, besides that one thing.”

Layla smiled at that. “I’m glad.”

\--

The trip out had been to get away. While Gozaburo was not one to give him breaks, Seto took pride in the fact that he’d managed to earn himself time away from studying, enough that he could relax and just…well, play games.

Of course, it’d been because of going off to the arcade and getting Mokuba some Capsule Monsters that he had been sent to Domino High in the first place…that and Gozaburo’s decision that it would be ‘punishment’. Seto knew he could easily just take a test or two and not worry about school anymore, but that wasn’t something his adopted father was going to really let him do.

“ _I have all my plans set up, Seto,_ ” he’d told him when Seto brought up the idea, “ _I don’t need your childish whims to ruin them._ ”

 _Yes, because wanting to get out from your oppression before you sink your claws into Mokuba is a_ whim, Seto thought bitterly as he set his briefcase down and sighed. He’d done all the homework already, as tedious as it was, and had gone to the Game Shop in the hopes of acquiring new cards. At least with Duel Monsters becoming more popular here, even if it was right before the big ‘rule change’ that Pegasus was thinking of, he’d be able to get some good cards. And he could get some first-editions to sell later, if his plan worked.

 _Which is why I don’t need to be in school…but I suppose it might be because Gozaburo suspects something_ , Seto thought, wishing he was allowed to see Mokuba today. Apparently he’d been ‘coddling’ his brother recently, meaning the next ‘scheduled’ time together was Wednesday.

 _And he’ll probably try to get me into some long meeting about…something…or tell me to play some sadistic game._ Seto pushed aside the thought that Mokuba was also taking up a few of the sadistic tendencies, or how much he’d had to take them up to survive under Gozaburo’s leash.

 _He’s_ not _growing up like that. I’ll make sure of it._

\--

Jounouchi groaned as they finished their game, Yugi smiling as he cheered his win. Anzu chuckled and said Jounouchi would have to try harder, Jounouchi nodding and collecting her cards as Kaiba walked over, now in the proper school uniform instead of that white suit he’d been wearing yesterday.

He seemed less interested in the game than yesterday, but Jounouchi didn’t blame him. The fight hadn’t lasted long and she wasn’t that good at the game, not yet. She still managed a smile at Yugi and stood and stretched as Kaiba spoke to Yugi.

“Did you bring the Blue Eyes to show off at school?”

“Yeah, Grandpa said I could...why?” He frowned. “You know what he said. It’s his favorite card.”

“I know...I understand what he said, I just wanted to look at it again. After I saw it, I really was a bit excited...there are very few of them around, and the people who have them tend to not let anyone touch them, let alone see them like he allowed. I really do...like that card.”

 _A week’s wages says he was really gonna say ‘love’_ , Jounouchi thought as Yugi, after a moment, allowed Kaiba to hold the Blue Eyes again. Considering what Sugoroku had said yesterday, Jounouchi was surprised that he let the card out of his sight.

But she frowned when Kaiba switched the cards, Yugi frowning as well and looking ready to say something as another classmate offered to play. Jounouchi said that Yugi could play, and paused, touching his shoulder and leaning in to whisper, “I can get it back for you, if you want.”

He swallowed, looking a bit worried about what would happen, and finally nodded. “please. but be careful.”

“I will be,” she told him, smiling and letting him play the game in peace while she sat down, watching over Kaiba as break ended and the last few hours of school began. She waited and finally stood after the last hour of class, taking her bag and putting on the pink coat she was supposed to wear before following him out.

“Kaiba,” she said, getting his attention as he headed out.

“Ah...Jounouchi, right?”

“Yeah. Listen, Yugi is too nice to say anything, but I’m not. So give back that card.”

He froze, looking almost worried. “I...I don’t...you’re calling me a thief?”

“You’re also a horrible liar,” she said, getting him to glare at her, “Just give back the card, ok? No offense, but just ‘cause you’re rich doesn’t mean you can just take what you want.”

“Don’t you _dare_ talk like you know me, you worthless piece of--.”

“Then how about this? You’re messing with some very bad things. Idiots like you have done worse than just steal something from Yugi...or haven’t you heard the rumors about this school? What about what happened a few weeks ago, during the Festival?”

Kaiba fell silent. There had been news about the festival because the group that normally prepared okonomiyaki had caused an uproar - first by taking a spot that they’d lost to Jounouchi, Anzu, and Yugi’s class by bullying and breaking down all the preparations, then when the leader of the group, Inogashira Gorou, had decided to play with nitro and ice on a hot pan. No one knew why, only that he’d come away with some nasty burns and shrapnel, their big frying plate was destroyed, and the festival managed without them. That didn’t stop mentions of the fact that they’d hit both Honda and Miho, when they’d tried to stop them and hurt the two, or that Yugi had been badly hurt as well before the strange incident, and disappeared that night.

“Those are just rumors.”

“Which is what a lot of stupid people say. Most of them are smart enough _not_ to piss Yugi off, or mess with us. We don’t even try to own the school or anything - we just want to be left in peace.” She let out a huff, trying to control her anger. “Give him back the card. He gets too upset and it’s your damned funeral.”

Kaiba snorted. “I don’t believe you.”

“Kaiba,” Yugi said, getting them both to look over at him, Jounouchi surprised and a bit afraid, “please...please don’t make me break my promise to my grandpa! It’d break his heart.”

Kaiba looked slightly upset for a second before he said, a false smile on his face. “You don’t believe me? And I thought we were friends…”

“Bastard, just--” the fact that she’d still been recovering was the only reason Kaiba managed to get in a hit from his solid-feeling briefcase, Yugi sounding worried as she winced, rubbing her cheek while Kaiba left.

“Jou...no…”

“Don’t you dare,” she muttered, turning to grab Yugi’s shoulders, “Don’t you dare. I’m ok, now you get back here, Yugi.”

Too late, the dark eyes had changed and now glanced at her, none of Yugi’s warmth in them. They flickered briefly to the blossoming bruise on her cheek before he said, “Go home, and get some rest. I’ll sort this out.”

“NO, you won’t,” Jounouchi growled, starting to stand as he reached up and touched her shoulder, getting her notice that he was a bit taller than Yugi, and some odd power seemed to move around them.

“I will. And while I do like you, Jounouchi, I’m not above delaying you either. Go home.”

“You let him go and you--.”

The eyes hardened, and Jounouchi suddenly felt herself shiver in fear. “He won’t die, if that’s what you fear. I will leave Kaiba far more...whole...then I left anyone else. Besides, you should be grateful. I dealt with Hirutani for you. He’ll never bother you again. Now... _go home_.”

Still shivering, unable to pull together enough courage to stop this other side of Yugi, Jounouchi headed to the shared apartment with Layla. Her friend frowned when she saw her.

“Katsuye? What’s wrong? What happened?”

 _I can’t tell her that Yugi’s possessed or...or whatever is wrong with him._ Jounouchi had an insane, inhuman fear of ghosts and possession. It was something she’d always been afraid of, to the point where any horror movie about aliens or whatever she could deal with, but not ones about zombies or ghosts or anything like that scared her to the point of near-paralysis. Layla had made fun of her for it, but didn’t so much, after seeing how bad her phobia was.

“I...thought I saw a hungry ghost,” Jounouchi managed weakly, feeling horrible. _Kaiba’s gonna get hurt because I was a damned coward…_

_He also stole Yugi’s card and didn’t own up to it. But still..._

The problem was how Yugi felt afterward, or what happened. The more violent or destructive the person, the more likely they disappeared or got badly hurt. Hell, even that convict hadn’t deserved to die the way he had, being burned alive. And Inogashira, while an asshole, didn’t deserve what happened to him either.

“Katsuye?”

“I don’t feel so good,” she muttered, Layla pulling her into a small hug to check her temperature. “Just...can I go into my room?”

Layla nodded, giving her a quick hug before allowing Jounouchi to go to her room and do homework, trying hard to not think of what would befall Kaiba for his mistake.

\--

Despite the description, Kaiba was not a spoiled rich brat. Gozaburo had seen to that. But he did have problems, and he knew that he’d only taken them out on Yugi and Jounouchi by hurting them. At the same time, he’d wanted to have the Blue Eyes because it was the only thing that Mokuba couldn’t get him, years ago. And now, even _with_ the money he’d made back or had from his shares in KaibaCorp, he couldn’t find or buy a Blue-Eyes.

So he’d stolen it, and now that he thought about it, he shouldn’t have. _There’s no point in having a card that’s not gotten fairly..._ he thought, recalling all those trophies that Gozaburo made with his own name on, for all the chess championships he won. He always congratulated himself before the win, then after. All he had taught Kaiba about was ruthlessness.

Now, sitting across from Yugi with his deck of Duel Monster cards, frowning as he says, “This game will be a bit different from what you normally play, Kaiba,” Seto wonders if he shouldn’t have taken Jounouchi’s warnings to heart.

She’d been _worried about him_ , he realized as his first monster appears in front of him, rising from the card. _She knew that this Yugi, this one that looks like Yugi but isn’t, is dangerous._

At the same time, his heart is pounding too hard to ignore. Watching them...even if it’s magic or whatever, he can recognize what this potential is.

 _I’m perfecting it, and I know Gozaburo will take it and use it for weapons or something else, something that makes others suffer. I can use it for something like this...something to make the game more amazing, more_ real.

Yugi didn’t seem surprised by Seto’s reaction, instead drawing his own monster. “Ah, my Dark Dragon. Perfect.”

The dragon roared into life, chomping and shifting, looking like a real dragon as he let out a breath of smoke. (7/1500/800)

“The Dark Dragon attacks your Gargoyle with Fire Breath,” Yugi said, the Dragon rearing before letting out a stream of fire, the Gargoyle writhing and disappearing, along with the card, from the table.

Kaiba: 1500

Yugi: 2000

“The loser of this game will end up in a Penalty Game,” Yugi said, smirking in a way that made Seto’s heart race even more, “those are the rules for this Shadow Duel.”

\--

The spirit was a bit disappointed after he got back the card and left Kaiba to his nightmares. Shadow Games never did allow themselves to favor one side or the other, not without the ‘owner’ of the game cheating or becoming too self-righteous. Still, they got their dues for such things, and the spirit wasn’t going to cheat when it was better to simply let luck and chance take over. His will to punish didn’t overcome his need to play fair. And for all Yugi or Jounouchi could complain, he did give them chances to leave, or decline the game. He’d not pushed Jounouchi’s father, despite the fact that he’d probably needed a trip to the Shadow Realm….

The spirit stopped that thought. Thinking like that would lead to abuses in power, that’s why he was only going after those who consciously hurt Yugi or his friends, or who wouldn’t change, like the one that had broken his own school rules, or even the others he’d punished. He had to be fair, had to not abuse this power, or he’d fall to the shadows.

Kaiba had cheated, so he was punished. It was only fair. Jounouchi’s father had declined a game, and had been honest and kept his promise to Jounouchi, so he wasn’t. That, too, was fair.

The spirit receded to his own part of Yugi’s body as they got closer to home, Yugi starting himself into wakefulness and looking obviously afraid as he looked around, noting the time and where he was.

“oh no,” he whispered, getting the spirit to frown. “no no no...not again. Please…not again. I didn’t…I didn’t hurt Kaiba…”

It was things like this that confused the spirit. Both Jounouchi and now Yugi wanted him to not harm those that harmed them first, when they were his natural prey. Kaiba had not been a friend, not if he was so willing to hurt Yugi by stealing a card so important to him, or to use the card and break the rules. Had Kaiba not played it, and simply taken his loss, perhaps the spirit wouldn’t have hurt him as badly, but now? There was no remorse.

Yugi moved home, because the spirit saw no reason for him to try to go back to the school, and while he would have liked to simply take over and give the card back to Yugi’s grandfather, he saw no reason to do that either. Simple pushes, aided by Yugi’s fear of what would happen if anyone else but Anzu and Jounouchi knew of the spirit, were easy enough to exploit so he wouldn’t have to worry about Yugi telling his grandfather what he thought occurred.

The spirit was silent as Yugi went through the rest of the night before heading upstairs, sitting on his bed and looking at the Millennium Puzzle, his mind full of confusion and sadness. The spirit could not think of a reason to console him either - Kaiba had lost, and had allowed himself into the Shadow Game. He could only offer the small note that the nightmare would only be for that one night.

\--

Seto woke up and had no idea how he’d gotten home. The last thing he remembered was being trapped in the world of Duel Monsters, his own coming to move around him…

He didn’t know what else, beyond that they wanted him to do... _something_. They weren’t angry at him for what happened, and knew that he’d valued them in their own way. The few weaker monsters he had could augment or be used to draw out stronger ones - the strong ones defeated (happily) the weaker…

 _And that man, Gozaburo,_ they’d mentioned, _he will destroy you, make you weak, when you’re not_.

It had been a nightmare, but only because he’d been unable to understand them, not until his panic had subsided and he’d _listened_. They, like him, wanted to succeed. They wanted to defeat the others.

Duel Monsters was about strength and cunning. Seto _had_ all the pieces needed.

Why was he stalling? There was no reason for it. For every day he didn’t, Gozaburo would try to bring Mokuba to his side. He had the Big Five to consider, and their place in what his new idea for KaibaCorp was.

_Wars won’t be conventional for very much longer, and while you can get money from government contracts...it’s easier to just make people happy, to make them realize you aren’t going to blow something up, or sell a tank to the highest bidder with the least morals._

Seto steeled himself. He’d lost his first game, the first loss since he’d beaten Gozaburo at chess, six years ago.

_I’m not going to lose this time._

He got ready for his day - not at school, but at war, and with a new company to run.

\--

Kaiba wasn’t back in class, making Yugi look almost sick with worry. Anzu, at least, didn’t ask what was wrong or try to talk it out with him, and Jounouchi was...well, present, because she couldn’t think of what to say either. She’d not really run into the other side of Yugi before, and still felt like a coward for not being able to stand up to him.

It was still odd, Jounouchi thought, because most of the mutterings about Kaiba wasn’t that he’d gone crazy, or had to ‘take a break’ for some reason. Instead, it was about the fact that KaibaCorp seemed to be reorganizing.

Jounouchi didn’t really pay much attention to it, but did when she went to visit her dad and his boss mentioned they’d gotten in a rush-job.

“Rush-job?”

“KaibaCorp,” he told her, pouring some tea for her and Dad. Dad had been staying with him for the moment, and was looking much better for it. “They asked for a big amusement park to be done in a few months. It’s actually a pretty easy design to do, at least - a lot of it is the new indoor roller coasters and games.”

Sansone frowned at the news after taking a sip of his tea. “I thought they specialized in weapons systems.”

“They did, but I heard there was some recent shake-up after the old man decided to tell his kid off for having a ‘new direction’. His sons and the five major controllers of the stock bought him out. Day later they started reworking everything, thought the five apparently aren’t as happy with the direction either.” Dad’s boss knows a bunch about his employees, or tries to, in case they need to either not work for them again or use it to avoid lawsuits. He has some stake in the construction company, though not the same as the ones that own it, and has tries to keep both Katsuye and Sansone in the loop about what he knows.

“Does that normally happen?”

“No, though KaibaCorp isn’t exactly a normal company. Gozaburo Kaiba was a right bastard and war-mongering son-of-a-bitch. His family made most of their money in the ‘40s on…well, unsavory things, and Gozaburo decided to use his company to advance weapons tech. Since he couldn’t sell the stuff to Japan, he sold it to anyone who had the money. They started to move more and more towards simulations and training, but it’s kinda obvious they’re planning something else. The change is grating, and they’ll lose some money off it, but it’s better in the long run. At least it’s not in the business of making missiles or anything anymore.”

Jounouchi manages to tell this news to Yugi later, which seems to cheer him up a bit. He’s not quite as down, at least.

“I was worried…because…”

Jounouchi nodded, knowing what he meant. She’d seen that other side of him, and was very worried about what it might mean. Still… “Dad’s boss said that the change didn’t happen until the day after Kaiba took the card,” she pointed out, “maybe…maybe whatever happened was temporary enough that he decided to take over?”

Yugi shivers but says nothing. Neither of them are really convinced of that, though there is a small bit of hope from the fact that Kaiba seems to not be put away for insanity, or stuck in the hospital.

“I don’t know…”

Jounouchi sighed, moving to hug Yugi and mutter, “I’m sorry.” She couldn’t say anything else to that, knowing that, ultimately, there was little to say. “Yugi…have you thought about…I mean…what about taking off the Puzzle, or…you know, breaking it up again?”

Yugi is silent, making Jounouchi start to panic before he muttered, “I can’t.”

“Huh?”

“I…I tried. I took it off, after…after what happened to Souzouji, but I…I was still wearing it. I didn’t even remember putting it on.” Yugi was shaking, unshed tears building up. “I…I just…I try, I’ve tried and I can’t. I’m afraid, Jounouchi. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to take it off, or that…or…”

Jounouchi pulled Yugi closer, letting him hug her tightly and sob a bit, still shaking from his fears and admission. “we’ll work this out, Yugi. I promise. We’ll fix this.”

\--

Luck and the continued rumors of what happened to those that crossed Yugi or his friends stopped the other side of Yugi from appearing for the next two months. The closest they got to seeing the other side was when there’s that problem with the digital pets.

Digital pets had become all the rage for a few weeks, enough that some people managed to have them for a while before they disappeared and you had to either trade with someone else or buy a new one. The group showed off theirs to each other, Honda saying he was too busy taking care of the dog at home to really have a virtual pet, while Miho added she was going to get one of the puppies and, thus, was spending her money on preparing to make it as spoiled as possible.

Of course, the mention of Honda’s dog mating had Yugi explaining about the ‘mating’ functions on the digital pets.

“Alright then, Yugi and I have to mate immediately!”

“Yays!”

“After this, I can mate with Anzu too!”

Both Honda and Miho managed to level looks at Jounouchi that said they knew she was messing with the few people nearby who were listening and trying to make more rumors. Still, they hung around to check on what happened with the two and watched as Jounouchi’s ‘Jou’ and Yugi’s ‘Yu2’ interacted briefly. Of course, Jou started off by looking rather annoyed with Yu2, but by the time it returned to the home screen, they seemed to be friends. The process was repeated with Anzu’s Sumomo right as Kujirada came up.

Jounouchi and the others were indifferent to Kujirada. He was large and enjoyed being the focus of some things, but also was a bit rude about…well, a lot of things. Right now, he was all for showing off his ‘ultra-rare’ pet that he’d managed to get, a black-starred animal that was, for the most part, really disgusting-looking.

The next day, Kujirada was acting more like an idiot, though Jounouchi blamed that on the black circles under his eyes, as he muttered about his pet needing ‘better food’.

 _That sounds like the tag line to all the bad cannibal-movies I’ve heard of_ , Jounouchi thought, going to get something from her locker and returning to find her pet, and it’s data, were gone.

Of course, that was right when Kujirada started grabbing the first digital pets it could and ‘feeding’ them to his – first Anzu’s, then it tried Yugi’s. Luck meant Yugi’s got enough of the data from Jounouchi’s and Anzu’s pets to evolve, and beat up Kujirada’s.

On the upside, the big guy apologized and offered to get Jounouchi and Anzu new pets, though they declined. And Yugi didn’t turn into his other self, despite his fear and worry.

“It just happened too fast,” Yugi told her, as they sat at the Game Shop and looked over Yu2, who seemed to have integrated the new data well enough to advance to the final stage before its ‘death’, “I didn’t have a chance to get too upset or anything…I’m glad.” He shifted and pushed the button to clean up after his pet. “Kujirada didn’t deserve to be hurt.”

Jounouchi thought about the others, considering. “Yugi, I know you hate violence, but…some of the others…deserved…well, not what happened, but, at least, they needed to realize they couldn’t just be bullies.”

Yugi shifted at the thought, as if uncertain. “I…I know, I guess. S-something about…about that other side of me is…is odd. He’s angry, but he never gets…too angry?”

Jounouchi considered, as far as her own actions were concerned. “Yugi, do you know why I got involved with Hirutani’s gang, before coming here?”

He shook his head, looking at her with some worry.

“I…there was a lot of bad things going on in my life right then. I didn’t want to be myself, I wanted to just…hurt everyone. That kinda remained until a few days after I met you. It’s still there, sometimes. I get angry with myself for…well, a lot of things, but before, I would’ve…well, I would’ve hurt other people, or tried to get myself hurt. The other guys that got hurt ‘cause they hurt you, they hurt people ‘cause they liked it. I mean, maybe not all of them, but most of them. I don’t want to encourage the bastard, because what he’s doing is hurting you, but I…I think he’s trying to protect you too, in his own way.”

Yugi is silent as he thinks about that, finally nodding. “I…think that too. But it hurts. I don’t…I don’t want it, Jounouchi. I don’t. I’m afraid of what happened to them, of what I did to make them…” he holds in a sob, barely. “I can’t…I can’t be happy with him hurting them like that.”

“Then don’t be. Fight back, however you can. I’m going to be here to help you, Yugi, I promise, and so is Anzu. We aren’t going to leave your side, and we’ll do our best to make sure that you’re safe.”

\--

Summer comes and, with it, a small break. Dad works a great deal at that job that KaibaCorp has them doing, and he seems excited by whatever they’re building. Jounouchi doesn’t really keep up with any news about KaibaCorp, and instead puts it out of her mind as she begins to work more for Sugoroku and also spends time with Yugi and Anzu. Honda and Miho come by as well, often together and on some date. Contrary to Jounouchi’s earlier worries, Miho doesn’t instantly try to get Honda to buy her everything – apparently having a puppy has gotten her a bit more down to earth.

Due to a rule change for _Duel Monsters_ , their parent company of Industrial Illusions was reworking the rules for the game, as well as trying to reprint some of the monsters. Blue-Eyes White Dragon was still extremely rare – the first three reprints had been bought up by collectors and were not about to be sold anytime soon – and new tournaments were being held in America and Japan. Keith Howard had disappeared after being humiliated, so now the new title of ‘King of Duel Monsters’ was up for grabs. The older cards, because they were being phased out and changed, were now either worthless (for the weaker cards) or highly valuable (for the stronger ones). So Sugoroku got the chance to show off other items from his youth, mostly older gaming artifacts and the like, which never failed to impress Jounouchi, at least. Since Yugi had grown up around these things, he liked to show Jounouchi how to play the games and talk to her about the history of it or what it turned into, or what little was known about the sometimes complex rules.

They were looking at one of those games when Imori from class came in. Imori, like Yugi, was small for his age and had been a target for some of the bullies in school, but with the number going down, he and others were not as badly picked on. At the same time, he wasn’t really on friendly terms with them, like Hanasaki or the others.

Imori smiled at them and held up a strange pot-thing he said his grandfather had found in China, and had left him. Jounouchi frowned at it, curious as to what would require something that looked so…ritualistic. The pot was, from her brief look, a clay pot with some markings, and the box on top was a type of wood, with the rope around it being tied intricately. She reached out to touch the rope, frowning at the fact that it was some high-quality stuff, and glanced at Sugoroku. “What is it?”

“I think these are the Dragon Cards,” Sugoroku said, “I’ve only heard of them, but they’re supposed to be a sealed game from ancient China, sealed by feng-shui masters. Feng-shui was a system used in China for over 4000 years, to harmonize human environments with the surrounding area. Their philosophy includes the onmyondo – yin and yang.” He tapped on the sealed cards, “The Dragon Cards are supposed to be a battle of balance, but if the power is imbalanced – if a student has too much of yin or yang, or if the intention is not noble, then the dragons turn violent. They were sealed centuries ago, when it was said they were abused and turned against the one who opened them.” He looked over at Imori. “Imori, right? These are very dangerous things – you shouldn’t open them, no matter what. Their powers are far too dangerous.”

Imori slowly nodded, taking the pot back before leaving. Jounouchi frowned, and while sitting with Yugi during break, asked, “Yugi, what he said about the dragons…”

“I don’t know,” Yugi said, “I mean…it’s odd, like I have some strange knowledge in the back of my mind now.”

“What do you mean?”

Yugi swallowed, shifting, before saying, “The…the spirit didn’t find you. I think I did.”

Jounouchi frowned at that as Yugi said, “He told me to think about you, and there was…some weird thing, like…like darkness, only it wasn’t completely…dark. Not like, bad dark but just like…like night. I just wanted to find you, to make sure you were ok, and they brought me there. I saw…hirutani trying to…and then the spirit took over.” He was silent a moment. “You’re thinking they’re not that bad?”

“I’m not saying it, because of what they did, but I’m thinking about how they don’t seem to…well, go after everyone. I’m still scared of what it could mean, or of what they’re forcing you to do, but at the same time, a lot of the stuff I’ve heard about the past is about balance. My grandma on dad’s side was all for it too.” She didn’t mention that her grandma was seen as the one to go to for herbal remedies and considered a ‘witch’ by some, which was the reason for leaving Italy and going to America. Which was totally not the reason Jou got freaky vibes from stories about ghosts, ok? It also wasn’t the fault of her aunt, who was also a priestess and supposed to be really good and…

“Jounouchi?”

“Nothing, just thinking. If we are going with balance, or with older ideas of stuff, then that could be why the other side of you is…well, the way he is. I mean, we’d have to learn more about Egypt first, but it does…well, it explains a little, I guess.”

Yugi nodded, letting out a breath. “I’m still scared.”

“I didn’t expect it to make this better,” Jounouchi admitted, “I just hoped that…well, that it made things a little easier.”

Yugi considered for a long time. “I…I guess I won’t know for a while.”

\--

The next few days are good – Jounouchi makes up for the time she’d lost and they go swimming over the summer, Jounouchi dressed in a swimsuit and trunks. She glared at a few boys who appeared to be considering taking them off, while smiling at Yugi as they did a few laps and splashed around, Anzu joining for a few hours before heading off to her new job. Yugi had a fun time, but blinked when something seemed to itch at the back of his mind. He moved to his cubby hole, blinking in surprise and fear as he noticed that the Puzzle was gone.

The itch was growing as he found the note, fear somehow working into the itch as well, making him shiver as he raced to Room C. Jounouchi hadn’t noticed him leave…he remembered that today, she had to go and see her dad. She’d asked before they left that he’d be fine, and he’d said yes…

“Yugi,” Imori said, smirking and wearing the Millennium Puzzle. “Glad to see you came.”

“this…this isn’t funny, Imori. Give me back the Puzzle.” The itch and strange feeling was growing, and while it was easier to push it back then before, it still seemed to speak to him, trying to warn him about something.

“You know,” Imori said, smirking as Yugi moved further into the room, “I’ve been watching you. You were like me only a little while ago, then you finished this puzzle, and suddenly you’re able to defeat bullies and others that messed with you. I didn’t make the connection, not until I got my grandpa’s collection of books about games.” Imori chuckled. “Your grandpa isn’t the only one who knows what the Millennium Puzzle can do, and what completing it gets you.”

Yugi shook with fear, trying to push back the buzzing inside of his head. _Grandpa knew about the dark thing that’s in me now, knew about the powers that are there…he didn’t warn me, he just let me believe it was a box that might grant wishes, that might give me friends…_

“Someone like you doesn’t deserve the power of darkness! You’re weak, and cowering. So…I’m here to challenge you for the Puzzle.”

Imori pulled away a white cloth, revealing the Dragon Cards, still sealed in their jar. Yugi felt himself quaking in fear, wanting to leave but at the same time paralyzed. Could he really leave the Puzzle here, leave Imori to be taken by it?

_No…no, I can’t. I have to try to win it back. **It’s mine, I won’t let someone like Imori take it, someone who’s obviously so unworthy…**_

“Imori, don’t!” Yugi said as Imori moved to open the Dragon Cards, breaking the seal, “You can’t break the seal!”

The itch and feeling in the back of Yugi’s mind grew as he moved to stop Imori, getting too close to the desk as the area around them turned dark. Some part of him knew this was a game of darkness, but it also seemed…angry, as if it knew that Imori was doing something wrong, or that his intentions weren’t to punish someone who’d hurt him in any way.

“I read up on the cards, after your grandpa confirmed what they were. If we don’t’ play a game, the land will be eternally cursed. The only way to seal it again, and to quell the dragon’s rage, is for the players to offer up their souls to this shin tsuen fu.” His smirk grew more sinister. “You don’t have a choice in this, Yugi.”

Yugi slowly sat, listening as Imori explained about the cards, their relationship to the table, the representation of the five elements in balance, and the dragons in the deck.

“The one who draws the strongest cards,” Imori told him after saying you had to draw three of the same level of card, “and uses his two dragons to beat his opponent’s dragons wins! Now then…game start!”

They draw six cards to start, Yugi looking at them and trying to focus. He has to win, if only because he fears what will happen if Imori _does_ keep the Puzzle. How badly will it affect him? How quickly will he be hurt? Yugi can’t let that happen – he’s only now just gotten able to keep the other side of him at bay.

He can almost hear the cards as he draw them and considers his strategy. Some part of him is worried about what Imori has, based on what he’s discarding – he probably is trying for Water dragons, and right now, Yugi doesn’t have anything in his hand that will let him fight against them. He can only hope for some luck with the Fire and Metal dragons that he’s managed to get.

**_Reach for the puzzle…I can play…_ ** _No… **it’s the only way to stop him now. He’s pulled you into this game, he’s angered the dragons, and he’ll not stop until he’s become mad with power. I won’t allow it. Please…**_

Yugi grabbed for the Puzzle just as Imori ordered the dragon to ‘eat’ him, the Water dragon’s tail going into his chest. He gasped, his hand reflexively tightening around the puzzle as his body slumped, the dragon pulling him out and into the jar.

Darkness was around him, but also something…odd. It sounded like the ocean, or cool water, just floating around him.

“ _hum, that’s because I am, child._ ”

_Who…who are you?_

_“Hum, I am the Shuĭ Lóng…you call me Mizuryu…”_

_The water dragon? The one that Imori summoned?_

What sounded like a storm approaching, or the pull back of water before a huge wave, echoed around him briefly before it began to calm again _.”Hum, that child…he is far too…arrogant…for his own good. He thinks only to win, not to use us for our true purpose.”_

 _True purpose?_ Then Yugi remembered what his grandfather had said, and shifted in the hold as he heard voice above them, a surprised exclamation from Imori and a voice like his own, but…different, deeper, full of power and anger. _You’re part of feng shui, grandpa said. So why seal you?_

_“We grew angry. Our purpose was to test the way a student saw and worked the elements around him, and what the master brought out. A master could bring out two dragons that would aid each other, or repel each other, and the student would bring out those that would cause a stalemate. A merging of light and dark…that is the nature of shadows, of balance. It is not to have one side prevail over the other.”_

_What happened?_

_“hum, the masters grew arrogant, and the students grew scared. One master was cruel, and turned us more to violence – he made us imbalanced. A student balanced us, and sent the master’s soul to us. He feared that we’d be abused again, so he asked our help in sealing. If we are opened for a game, to balance the forces, then we will. If we are opened, as that child did, to imbalance a world…”_

Yugi listened as the waters and dragons around him muttered, each voice odd and different. It wasn’t hard to hear what they were saying, something that made him hide in the water dragon’s hold. She (Yugi guessed it was a she…he wasn’t sure) flowed around him, not too much to drown him or make him feel afraid, and nuzzled at his cheek. “ _Hum, do not fear, child. Your other side is dispensing justice.”_

_I’m afraid. What he does…it scares me._

_“Such is the nature of things. He is darkness, you are light. Yet you have some darkness in you…you fear and are angered like anyone. And he hopes and cares, as anyone. You both, together, are balance. He is…simply protective.”_

Yugi wants to complain when he hears Imori say something about picking up discarded cards and frowns. _He didn’t tell me that._

 _“Hum, this is why we know that your other side will win. He is like us…he understands that darkness isn’t all bad, that it is…hum…”_ He smells something odd…wet ground, and briefly remembers a garden his mother planted, how after she’d gotten the soil together and watered it, it’d smelled like that and the plants had bloomed in the dark soil. How once, when dad had taken her to some long trip and grandpa had forgotten to water it, the soil had turned hard and lighter, the plants dying.

“ _Hum, darkness is not just darkness, but other things. Deep waters, fertile soil, a dark place, a mystery. Light is not just light, but other things. A vast plain, a well-lit room, no places to hide. Each cuts both ways. You are scared of the power your other has, and he is scared for you. He cannot hear us here, nor know that we are caring for you.”_

From the pot, a Wood and Water Dragon rose up, followed soon by an Earth and Metal Dragon. Yugi frowned, but then blinked as if seeing clearly as the voices above him sounded off, booming like thunder above them.

 _Oh…Imori summoned the Water and Wood one, because he guessed my other self would summon Metal again._ Another nuzzle by the Water dragon around him, encouraging him, _but…my other self summoned the two that could defeat them…Earth absorbs Water and strengthens Metal, and Metal can defeat Wood._

_“Hum…yes. This will end with Imori being punished.”_

_I wish there was another way._

_“That is because you are light. But know that he would not have spared you a second thought…he would have hurt you, and left you for dead, and taken all your friends to feed the darkness, and become something terrible.”_

_I still wish I could help him…could have stopped him from this route._

_“Hum, many do. But to chose a path and not commit to everything, including the possibility of failure and of loss, is only a way to self-delusion, to having too many ill winds.”_ The sound of the dragons fighting turned into a clatter, before the Metal and Wood dragons fell back into the pot, the two moving to their own corners after giving what appeared to be bows of respect. The other Water dragon soon followed, humming in what sounded like delight as the one around Yugi hissed something at it. “ _It is time for you to leave. This was…pleasant. I have not met one who is able to balance darkness so well before. I hope, next time we meet, things are more pleasant.”_

\--

Yugi’s soul is…oddly calm when it returns, not at all the frantic thing that Imori’s was when the Earth Dragon had claimed it. The spirit notes that one of the Water Dragons is near the surface, floating calmly, before it sinks down with the rest. The pot and cards right themselves without his help, and the string reties and reseals itself.

A touch from his own magic to the cards and pot, and the spirit understands. This is an old magic, nearly as old as he, and in-tune with balance. Yugi’s soul was probably not harmed, not like Imori’s will be in the near future.

The spirit allows Yugi’s soul to rest, taking the Dragon Cards to hide in a place that only he, or one who is able to use them correctly, can enter. They seem fine there, and the spirit considers what had gotten Yugi frantic earlier.

Sugoroku Muto was a man that, once, had thought of completing the Millennium Puzzle but gave up. While he’d gotten rid of many of the components that once made up his youth as a Game Master, many of them dangerous in ways that the spirit’s Shadow Games could be, the spirit also didn’t understand the man’s decision to let Yugi have the Puzzle for so long. He considered and slowly soothed the other soul, as while Yugi could see him as a bad thing some of the time, the spirit saw himself as becoming a partner to the other soul.

 _Partner…_ he rolled the word over in his mind, listening and considering. Yugi was that – the spirit had not been able to push his soul down, and the Shadows rose to help Yugi as readily as they rose to help the spirit. On top of that, Yugi was a perfect compass for this new age – his morality was one that wanted more people to survive, but at the same time, he would do what he could to help anyone. The incidents with Hanasaki, as well as the other one with Honda and Miho, seemed to solidify that. And because of Yugi’s distress and attempts to keep himself awake, the spirit was seeing, more and more, how the punishment should fit the crime, or the person. Ms. Chono and, to some degree, Kaiba, had shown that as well.

 _Kaiba…_ He’d never met someone who felt so invested in the Shadow Game. Had he not cheated, the spirit would have easily acknowledged him as an equal and taken the Penalty Game. But with that cheat, and the inability to use the Blue Eyes to win, he’d sealed his fate.

Still, he _was_ unlike the others. Something about Kaiba made the spirit’s own soul seem…brighter, as if it was trying to figure something out.

The spirit pushes Kaiba out of his mind and focuses, instead, on getting through the day and letting Yugi’s soul rest after its ordeal.

\--

It’s nearly six months since they first met Kaiba that Yugi meets Kaiba’s brother. It starts because of the newest game, Capsule Monsters. It’s easy enough to play, and comes from small vending machines that are located in various areas, including a few stores along the way back from school. Jounouchi wasn’t quite as interested as it as Yugi – she had tried a few games, even had one of the boards to play on, but otherwise they hadn’t quite caught up with the popularity of the new Duel Monsters game. While the monsters were unique and interesting, the games could get dangerously one-sided.

Yugi was going to get a few from the nearby vending machine, but today it was somewhat crowded by kids, most of who were extremely rude. It wasn’t that Yugi didn’t get along with some kids, but…well, he didn’t like the rude ones was all. He was polite and didn’t see a reason to be so rude.

So losing his 100 yen to a machine and being yelled at by the man who owned said machine was not a good start to the end of his day. Running into a grade-school kid with a mop of dark hair, who introduced himself as Kaiba Seto’s younger brother…

 _Crap._ Yugi hadn’t heard much about Kaiba, as he’d dropped out of school to run the company his father had left him. Jounouchi had mentioned her dad and the construction company he was part of was working on a building for KaibaCorp, a semi-secret one that he seemed happy about. Kaiba’s brother seems annoyed by Yugi’s…well, attitude in general.

_How much did Kaiba tell him…about what happened?_

Yugi still didn’t know what happened, only that he’d possibly played a game against Kaiba (well, his other side had, at least) and that afterwards, Kaiba had gotten control of the corporation. Beyond that, Yugi didn’t know anything else. He was also a bit worried about how quiet the other kids had gotten when Mokuba arrived, and what that could mean. Yugi had been bullied enough to know when someone was obviously popular enough, or feared enough, to gain that respect. Mokuba seemed to have both going on, a healthy fear of _something_ from the others, as well as an obvious undercurrent of something else.

 _Is this what happens to those whose family and friends I hurt? Is this what happens to those that my other side hurts?_ Imori’s fate had weighed heavily on Yugi for some time, enough that he’d worked as hard as he could to keep his darker emotions and fears at bay. He’d even taken up Jounouchi on learning some self-defense and getting into better shape, especially after he’d noticed that he was…growing, for lack of a better word. It was odd to notice, he guessed, but it also feels almost unnatural as well.

“So,” the younger Kaiba asked, smirking a bit when he noticed Yugi’s unease, “how good are you at Capsule Monsters?”

“Oh, um…I just started so I’m not that good.” Which was a bit of an understatement, as Yugi found himself often very good with games, no matter how old or how long he’d been playing them. Well, except Dragon cards, but he blamed that on not knowing all the rules and having only a few turns to go by. His other self had better luck, because he’d seen the game played already.

The other Kaiba chuckled before telling the other kids to get him, taking Yugi and the Capsule Monster vending machine away after handing over a stack of yen to the candy store owner.

They were quick to take him to an abandoned warehouse, Yugi trying hard not to think of the other warehouse, the one that had held Jounouchi when…

“This is our secret hideout,” the other Kaiba said, smirking as they set him down with the basic board for Capsule Monsters, “We come here to play and deal with people like you.”

The kids seemed intent on picking on him, poking and getting him worked up as Yugi tried to keep himself from—

“Hey, this is a nice pendant…I’m gonna take it!” one of the ruder kids said, and suddenly Yugi recalled Imori holding it, and then –

\--

 _“Keep your hands off my puzzle, you goddamn brats,_ ” the spirit growled, his anger and sudden change making all the kids but Kaiba’s brother back away, fear in their eyes. He crossed his arms and glared at the _child_ before him, saying he wanted to challenge him to a game like his brother had.

He heard one hastily whisper to the brat brother of Kaiba, the kid seeming far too interested in defeating him.

He wasn’t in the mood. Even after the months since the Dragon Cards incident, since he’d started to tentatively think of Yugi as his ‘partner’ and not simply a soul in the body that was now his, or an innocent that couldn’t deal with the Shadow Games, he was more aware of the problems he was causing. At the same time, he could feel the Shadows seem to seethe at this brat’s audacity.

 _He wants to be like his brother, but he’s also taken up some rather bad habits,_ the spirit thought, saying it didn’t matter what monsters or level he got, knowing that he’d get the one monster needed to teach this child a lesson.

The machine, of course, was rigged, giving the brat high-level monsters, but the spirit knew he had the item required. He barely listened to the threat of cutting off a finger from the little Yakuza wannabe as the Shadows prepared themselves.

The boy wasn’t going to last long. He’d not looked over the bottoms of the capsules, which had simple notes of special attacks for that level and every other one, so he’d set up his monsters with the one ready and to the side.

Something made him smirk as he watched the pieces come to life and as the brat taunted him over having one less monster. “I’m teaching you a few lessons in gaming. When one player is disadvantaged, the other might show off and reveal his weaknesses. That’s the first lesson!”

The Shadows shifted as the brat suddenly sounded defensive and angry, a trace of pain quickly flickering through his eyes. “Y-you? Coaching me?” It came out less as anger and more as fear.

“Never lose your temper,” the spirit said, not making any moves as he pondered the brat’s reaction, “Lesson two. Now, I’ll move this monster forward.” The brat sat down as the spirit moved his highest-level monster forward. They both lost monsters, while the brat seemed intent on using his remaining four to take down the last few of the spirit’s monsters, his earlier confidence back.

_There’s something that the two are going up against, that they have to work out for themselves. It’s not healthy._

The brat laughed as the spirit went down to one monster, causing him to chuckle. For someone who supposedly knew all about monsters, the brat was a bit foolish. Especially since he hadn’t checked to see what the markings said about special abilities.

“Look at the board,” the spirit said, getting the brat to blink at the way his monsters were set up, “and, about my last monster. It’s low level, and horrible at close-combat…but it does have a special ability. A diagonal sure-kill that works against all monsters, even level 5 monsters.” He smiled at the final bird-monster slashed out, killing all of the brat’s remaining monsters. “Save your trump-card for last. There’s your final lesson before your own penalty game.”

The brat let out a screech as he saw the capsule appear above him, but not before lastly saying, “M-my brother’s preparing his revenge! The Death-T! You’ll never…you…” another scream as the capsule closed, leaving Mokuba to call for help as he couldn’t quite see the outside world and his concerned friends.

_Death-T…and Kaiba has it against me. If it’s similar to his brother, it’s because of that loss…or something else._

The spirit considered seeing what was going on, but decided against it. As much as he wanted to be prepared, he also knew there was little he could warn his partner about. Yugi was only just starting to trust him, as well as trust himself. And if Kaiba was planning something dangerous, the spirit knew that Yugi’s friends would be there to help.


	5. Death-T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kaiba Brothers try to take their revenge on Yugi! Meanwhile, a father-daughter day doesn't go as planned, Layla is more than she appears, and Yami is still a bit of an asshole.

Part 5: Death-T

Sansone looks at the tickets to the completed park with happiness as he dials the number to Layla’s home. He had yet to tell Katsuye about the fact that the workers had been given out free tickets to the amusement park called KaibaLand. He knew she was getting more and more interested in games of all sorts, and really wanted to spend some time with her. Especially since he’d seen some of the machines right before they were tested out, and a lot of them looked wonderful. He was also a bit surprised at the ‘arena’ areas that had been built for major tournaments. A lot of them had various 3D technology that Sansone hadn’t helped out with, but that other technicians and specialists from the company had. He found out a bunch of it was repurposed stuff from military contracts that went south, or that now wasn’t around, after the take-over.

To be fair, Sansone had yet to meet KaibaCorp employees who were unhappy with the change. Apparently Gozaburo Kaiba had been an asshole and his successor, Seto, was _much_ nicer. Or, at least, he wasn’t about to throw them under the bus or anything. Which, in Sansone’s mind, counted.

The phone rang twice before Layla picked it up, sounding almost worried. Which, considering this was a woman who casually stood up to most people and easily _broke_ them without raising her voice, was something. “Katsuye?”

“No…what’s wrong? What happened?”

“She went out with Yugi for a bit, but I haven’t heard from her. Did they come over to your place?”

Sansone was finally back at his own place, so that was a plus. The minus was that he doubted Yugi would ever willingly come over, not unless Katsuye was _really_ hurt. “No. I haven’t seen them.”

\--

Jounouchi sighed as the limo drove them to Kaiba’s house. Her phone had been broken when that Bruce Lee wannabe had challenged her to a fight, and Yugi had not gotten a cell phone yet, much to his and his mother’s dismay. Still, she’d hoped the driver or someone would let them call their family to let them know things were going ok, and that Kaiba had invited them over.

And yes, this was kinda sinister, the way things were going, but…well, what else could they do?

Well, on top of that, things got really sinister when some kid turned in the front seat, asking if Yugi remembered him, and introducing himself as Mokuba Kaiba. A memory of a similar, but much nicer, kid itched in the back of her mind, despite her surprise that the kid was vice-president. She tries hard to focus on the conversation and why Yugi is so worried, but the past keeps creeping up on her.

She didn’t really think a lot about the time before the divorce, mostly because of how long ago it was and because it was hard to think of that time. She’d worked even back then, going on a paper-route to stay out of the house as Mom got progressively more demanding of her and Dad, and began to spend more time trying to dictate Jounouchi’s life.

They blinked at the size of the house, an older butler coming to say that Kaiba had gone to bed and asked that Mokuba keep them company. Mokuba seemed annoyed, but also seemed a bit afraid of the guy. The older butler – Hobson or something – smirked at them and bowed before directing them to the kitchen. Most of the staff seemed uneasy around him, and only relaxed when he was out of the room.

“We’re still working on getting new staff and the like,” Mokuba told them as they sat down for dinner, “You heard about the changes, right?”

“I heard that KaibaCorp became big in entertainment and the like,” Jounouchi admitted, “but not a lot besides that. I don’t really follow that sort of thing.”

Mokuba smiled, as if happy that Jounouchi knew even a little about KaibaCorp. It made her frown as Yugi asked about the changes and Mokuba talked a bit about it, mostly though he apologized for the ‘incident’.

“I thought I was able to deal with you in my own game,” Mokuba said, shrugging, “and I guess I needed an attitude change.”

Jounouchi didn’t speak up as they went through the food, most of it really rich and expensive. Yugi seemed a bit surprised at Mokuba’s change of heart, while Jounouchi focused on eating as much of the food as she could. It wasn’t like she’d have a chance to get good food again, especially not this quality.

“I’m glad I was able to talk to you and Katsuye,” Mokuba said, getting Jounouchi to glare at him for the casual use of her name. Yugi didn’t even call her by her first name, but then again, he was really formal. “I mean, I didn’t think he’d be comfortable around me, not after what happened.”

Jounouchi is silent as Yugi appears to be happy with Mokuba’s change in attitude, though he also looks a bit confused. Jounouchi didn’t blame him, especially when you factored in the way Mokuba was acting and how he seemed so intent on getting Jounouchi’s approval.

“How do you like the food?”

She blinked, looking at the kid and managing a smile, “It’s good. I haven’t tried anything like this before. Hey, listen, my friend will be really worried if I don’t call…”

“Hobson is calling your families to tell them where you are,” Mokuba said quickly, getting Jounouchi to worry. Layla was scary when worried, and Jounouchi wouldn’t put it past her to break a door or two down to get to her. “It’ll be fine. But Seto really wanted you to be here for the big event tomorrow. You just _have_ to stay!”

Jounouchi doesn’t like this idea, but couldn’t argue that it would, at least, calm Layla down and not get her to go out on some sort of rampage or something. “Ok, though I’d like to talk to the lady I’m staying with. She…worries, and I don’t want her to come here and demand to make sure I’m ok.”

Mokuba seemed to think on this before nodding, looking happy at the idea that Jounouchi and Yugi would stay. “I’ll tell Hobson, and get the staff to prepare the guest rooms. You’ll like them, they have everything you’ll need.”

Mokuba hurried away as the main dish was taken and Jounouchi frowned, looking over at Yugi. “Was he like this when you met him?”

“No, but…I mean, maybe he changed?”

Jounouchi wasn’t so sure about that, but at the same time, she wouldn’t put it past the kid. He seemed to be genuinely fine, so maybe the other side of Yugi that she’d met up with hadn’t messed with him too badly?

“I didn’t,” the deeper voice made her turn, seeing the other side of Yugi across from her and sitting back, looking annoyed at her anger. “I and Yugi are…working…on communication, but it’s hard. And considering I dealt with the…child…more than Yugi did, I expected you’d like my insights.”

“I don’t exactly _like_ you,” she pointed out, glaring at the other side of Yugi, “especially since you haven’t shown to be the caring type.”

“I know he spoke to you about what happened with Hirutani, and I was not lying when I said that it’s because of me that you needn’t worry about him,” the other side said, looking annoyed, “As for the child, he appears…different. At least be happy to know I’ve toned down how I deal with…annoyances.”

“People aren’t annoyances.”

“Bullies are,” the other side argued back, “and worthless things, besides. That they cheat and end up dead or having to face actual consequences should not be so hard to understand. Yet you and Yugi insist I give them chances – I gave Kaiba and his brother a chance. If that turns out to be the wrong choice, I might…reconsider.”

Jounouchi tried hard to not think about what had happened when he’d appeared before her and made her leave. She didn’t know what happened with Kaiba, only that he’d ended up dropping out of school and, now, seemed to own a company. She also didn’t know what happened with his little brother, but he did seem fine too. Still, that didn’t mean this other side was going to be good, or going to be someone who helped Yugi. If anything, he’d only made things worse for Yugi, had made it so he lost hours and had also create an atmosphere of fear at the school around Yugi and his friends. While Hanasaki and Miho had known about it, they didn’t come to Yugi with problems. But that didn’t mean that others hadn’t, or that the bullies hadn’t backed off if someone casually mentioned being friends with Yugi.

And it also hadn’t stopped Yugi from still being a target, or from having to deal with the pain of knowing that something was inside of him, something that would willingly harm others if it meant keeping a friend safe.

The other side glared at her, but shifted a bit and closed his eyes, features shifting to become less harsh and more gentle before Yugi blinked, looking sleepy and confused before he said, “Did…was the other…other me here?”

“He’s not you,” Jounouchi said, “but yes, he was. He said that Mokuba seemed different. I’m guessing he didn’t like that I didn’t trust him.”

Yugi slowly nodded as Hobson and Mokuba came back in, the older, creepier man with a cell that he held out to Jounouchi. “A woman…Ms. Naunet, I believe?...is on the phone for you.”

Jounouchi took it and said, “Layla? Are you there?”

“Katsuye, who was that horrible man I just spoke to?” Layla asked, sounding annoyed.

“Um…a butler for someone. Listen, they want me to stay over for some big event tomorrow…”

“At KaibaCorp? Your dad got some tickets to it. I might head over there, if you’ll be there.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Jounouchi said, assuring Layla she’d be fine before hanging up and handing the phone to Yugi. He called his mom, saying he’d be fine and was staying at a friend’s house, then handed it over to Hobbs, thanking him.

Hobbs left right after that, Mokuba beaming as desert came out for them, getting him to laugh happily at the chocolate parfait he got, while Jounouchi had gone for something simple and chocolate-covered, and Yugi had picked a fruit tart of sorts.

Apparently “simple and chocolate-covered” meant either a three-layer chocolate cake of three types of chocolate that wasn’t white chocolate, or a god-damn lava-cake. Jounouchi frowned as Mokuba stopped his eating to look at her in worry. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t think _lava cake_ is simple,” she said, poking the sugar-coated cake before her. “I tried it once. It’s hard.”

Mokuba seemed to brighten up and smiled as Jounouchi shared the three-layer with Yugi, who smiled and at some of the food as he was done with the tart. “You cook?”

“Sometimes,” Jounouchi admitted, cutting the lava cake to let the inner chocolate flow out, “it was something I got into when I was young. It helped me focus, and it’s something to do.” She ate a bit of the lava cake, offering some of the three-layer cake to Mokuba, who happily ate a bit as well while Yugi looked at the lava cake and shared a bite with Jounouchi.

“That’s really cool,” Mokuba said, grinning through the chocolate and fruit, “I didn’t really get into it - I mean, the guy who adopted me and Seto, he only had our servants deal with us.”

The two blinked as Mokuba ate a bit more, Yugi finally saying, “Um...you and Kaiba were adopted?”

Mokuba nodded, “Yeah, by the former owner of KaibaCorp. Seto got him to adopt us.” Mokuba stopped, looking a bit sad. “The guy wasn’t very nice, but Seto knew that I’d be taken care of, and that’s all that mattered to him. Now we own the company, and don’t have to worry about him!” Mokuba sounded far too happy about that point as he finished off the parfait. “Seto’s been working on a special project, and he wanted to thank Yugi and his friends for all you did.”

Yugi looks uncomfortable with the information, and Jounouchi isn’t sure if what was said was a promise or a threat. They hadn’t really known Kaiba all that long, and he had kinda knocked her in the face with a really heavy case. Plus, considering that the other half of Yugi had gone after Kaiba…well, that made this whole thing seem suspect.

“No, really,” Mokuba said, apparently catching her disbelieving look, “after what happened, Seto was able to get control of the company, so it’s because of Yugi that he’s been able to take better care of me.” He smiled, apparently really happy about something, “And besides, if he hadn’t met Yugi, he wouldn’t have met you either, Katsuye! That’s awesome.”

\--

Mokuba had to do his best to reign in the excitement he felt. Seeing her again, after those years, was just great. Plus she was still as awesome as he remembered her, from the few pictures they’d managed to save from the orphanage.

_Katsuye…big brother’s first crush._

Katsuye had been doing a paper route when Mokuba had managed to pay some money for her to deliver the paper to the orphanage, specifically to him so Seto could have it and try to find a new family for them. Mokuba didn’t remember much about their own family, besides their aunt dropping them off and Seto’s anger at them, but he did remember that Katsuye had been nice and always managed to get him the paper, even once climbing over the wall to get it to him.

She was also the first person who really got Seto to smile, besides Mokuba of course, and had made him blush once when they kissed. Mokuba had seen it, and his brother had been happy for days afterwards. Sometimes, Mokuba had thought that Katsuye could convince her parents to let them live with her, so they’d be a family and Mokuba could have a brother _and_ sister.

Then one day, Katsuye had tried to sneak in with another girl, and there’d been a huge shouting match between her and this one woman that Mokuba thought was really mean. Seto had managed to get near enough to listen to it, and told Mokuba later that the mean woman was Katsuye’s mom, and the girl was Katsuye’s sister. Apparently, the mom and dad were going through a divorce, and the mom had said Bad Things to Katsuye.

He’d tried to give her a hug, when she came by next time with the paper, and she’d laughed before saying everything would be ok, and that he and Seto would find great parents who’d love them forever.

She disappeared right before Seto found out about Gozaburo, right before the big chess game.

Mokuba knew that Hobson and some of the others with Gozaburo had thought Seto cheated, but Mokuba knew he hadn’t. Seto was that good, and saying he had cheated to beat some bad man was just showing how stupid they were. The only upside was that Gozaburo hadn’t said it, even if Mokuba knew that he didn’t stop the rumors either.

_He hurt Seto, just like that bad lady hurt Katsuye_ , Mokuba thought as he listened to Katsuye marvel at the mansion, _he got what was coming to him, just like Yugi will._

Mokuba wasn’t sure if his brother’s plan would work, but that was why he’d made a bet with him about where Yugi would lose. If Yugi lost to Mokuba, then Mokuba would have the money and power to do what he wanted, and before Katsuye had gotten into the limo with Yugi at her side, Mokuba had wanted to just find her and bring her home, show her what they’d gotten, and get her and Seto together. He’d gotten good at throwing his allowance around to get money, so anything Katsuye wanted, Mokuba could get her, as long as she stayed.

Now, though…well, now Mokuba wanted her to stay, but he also remembered that she’d had a bad mom, and that there’d been a divorce. Mokuba wasn’t going to let her get hurt by someone, not like how Gozaburo had hurt Seto.

“These rooms are huge,” Katsuye said when they got to the guest rooms, getting Mokuba to laugh happily.

“Oh, these are some of the smaller ones. Seto converted one of the others into a room for his trophies and card collections.” That had pissed Hobson off, even if Gozaburo had a similar room.

Katsuye blinked in surprise. “Wow.” She shook her head, smiling a bit at Mokuba. “Tell me you’re not just showing off.”

He was, and he blushed as she added, “You should get more friends or something to show this off to. Then you wouldn’t have to just play host to me and Yugi.”

“It’s ok!” Mokuba hurried to say, smiling as Katsuye went to sit on the bed, looking a bit tired. “Make yourself at home. Besides, we have to get up early anyway.”

Katsuye and Yugi nodded, Yugi following Mokuba to the room next door and managing a small smile. “I’m sorry about…um…the last time. I hope there’s no hard feelings.”

_You put me in a capsule and Seto says that Katsuye is scared of your other side. Beating you and keeping her safe will be a pleasure._

“There isn’t. Sorry for being so mean last time,” Mokuba said, leaving Yugi to go to bed as he went to his own room. All they had to do was beat Yugi, then Katsuye could stay with them and help Seto, and Mokuba would have a _good_ family. He’d find Katsuye’s sister and then he’d have two sisters, and that mean witch of a mom would be dealt with like Gozaburo was, and everyone would be happy.

\--

_The darkness held him at bay as the last of his cards disappeared, the laugh a deeper, older man than the one who’d faced him months ago._

_“You lost, Seto,” Gozaburo said, standing with Mokuba at his side, a collar tightening around his brother’s neck. “This is what happens when you lose.”_

_“No…” the darkness, thicker than the one that had surrounded him before, pulled him backwards towards the window he knew was there. “No, let him go! Let Mokuba go!”_

_Gozaburo pulled at the leash, the stiletto he’d once used on Seto appearing in his hand as he laughed. “Your brother belongs to me. You’re a worthless loser—“_

_Then, instead of Seto falling out a building, it was Gozaburo, the hold on the leash not slacking as he pulled Mokuba out—_

“NO!” Seto gasped, drawing in a deep breath at he woke, sweat dripping down as he took in as many deep breaths as he could, shivering despite the heavy sheets.

“Master Seto,” Hobson’s voice made him wake fully, pulling in his emotions and putting forth the cold, emotionless face that he had to when dealing with the butler. He’d yet to find a way to fire Hobson, the old man having too much influence and pull to be easily rid of.

“Yugi and his friend stayed overnight, as you requested,” Hobson told him, getting out the long, fur-lined coat that he’d chosen to wear for the grand opening of the park.

“Thank you. Are all the preparations ready?”

“Yes, sir,” Hobson said with a smirk before nodding, “I’ll go ahead and get ready.”

Kaiba felt himself relax a bit as Hobson left. The official opening for the public wouldn’t be for another two days, but the chance to deal with Yugi, as well as to open the park to the underprivileged and the men who’d worked so hard to construct it, was an opportunity that Kaiba didn’t want to pass up. His father had wanted to keep the company in a past that could easily cause more harm than good. At least, to some degree, Kaiba would be able to move past that once he defeated Yugi.

_“This is what happens to losers, Seto! Remember it well!_ ”

_I’m not like you, Gozaburo. I’m not going to lose this game. Not this time._

\--

“You really shouldn’t be so down,” Layla pointed out, watching the throng of kids that were waiting for Kaiba’s arrival and for the doors to open, “She said she was alright, and she wouldn’t have lied about it.”

“In case you forgot, I was involved in building this place, and I’m working with the head to see about taking some extra jobs. Excuse me if I’m worried because of some of the problems that other jobs have had,” Sansone muttered, not wanting to upset the other kids. A few other workers had also been troubled, but at least there family had been left out of it. Sansone wasn’t sure if the reason for what happened to Katsuye was because of her friendship with that odd kid or because of KaibaCorp’s new direction. There was some rumors that Industrial Illusions and Paradis were trying to buy up information on KaibaCorp, and while it was being run by a young boy, said boy was proving to be a more worthy investment than his rather cruel and sometimes sadistic father.

Speaking of family, Sansone tuned out Layla’s sigh and eye-roll when he saw the limo pull up and Kaiba step out. The kid was a bit taller than he was, but not so tall that Katsuye wasn’t still at a perfect level with her former classmate’s shoulder, the Yugi kid being the shortest and, by far, the youngest-looking of the group. Katsuye did look good, at least, and Sansone waited (barely) for the Kaiba kid to announce KaibaLand’s opening before heading over to see his daughter.

“Kat--.”

“Seto, you bastard!” a man in what had once been a nice suit shouted, getting most of the adults who were still outside to stop and look, “You killed the company president! You took over and forced your own father out of the business! He killed himself because of you, you goddamn monster!”

Sansone nearly punched the obvious ass-kisser for interrupting the day. It was one of the reasons he’d hated working as a salaryman, and hated office politics enough that he’d never really get enough pull to run more than the union he worked for. He also froze when he saw the dark look on the young man’s face. He didn’t know a lot about the story concerning that family, but did think it was in poor taste to come to an opening with all the kids around to shout something.

“Just what this needed,” Layla muttered from behind him as Kaiba’s men took the guy away, “some asshole who can’t keep his mouth shut.”

“Dad! Layla!” Katsuye had noticed them, and Sansone smiled as he pulled her into a hug, Katsuye giving a token protest before turning and smiling at the tall kid, Kaiba, and the shorter one, Yugi. Sansone had thought the kid looked familiar, but he guessed his big brother or evil twin was the one that’d haunted his hangover…whatever…back when Katsuye had been hurt. “Dad, this is Seto Kaiba.”

“I worked for him, helping to build this place,” Sansone reminded her, smiling at the kid and giving a quick bow. “I worked with the construction company. I gotta say, sir…thank you for the tickets to come here today. It means a lot to the guys and their family, to get the day off and spend time with their family.”

Kaiba’s dark look suddenly cleared, his eyes shining happily as he said, “Thank you. I’m glad to hear it.” All eyes fell on Layla, who hadn’t been her normal self, saying who she was or anything. Instead, she stood there, dressed for winter in her clothing that most would either put as ‘old fashioned’ or ‘new age’, her tawny eyes locked on Kaiba and her face blank.

_Crap._ Layla didn’t get really emotional about a lot of stuff, and when she did, she turned into the Ice Queen faster than you could blink. Sansone instead said, “Oh, this is a friend of Katsuye’s…Layla. She’s…well, she’s a student--.”

“A historian,” Layla said, finding her voice and smiling a little, “I’m working on my masters…about games and their place in society.”

“Oh?” Kaiba asked as he directed them in, Sansone and Katsuye falling in behind Yugi and Layla.

“Yes. It’s quite interesting, how violent some games can be, and what they mean for the people on the whole.” She suddenly smiled, as if she’d just been waiting to start talking. “It’s really quite interesting, all things considered. Especially when talking about how different cultures and groups view such things.” She smiled at him, as if glad to have this conversation, “I’m also trying to look at how violent games and such have carried over into the new century. It’s really quite amazing, especially since so many games have been changed or added to due to outside influences or introductions.”

The group went on a quick tour of the place, Kaiba mostly showing off the ‘solid’ illusions that made most of the images look more realistic and, for some attractions, more frightening. Various ones had warnings about health-concerns and possible nightmares, which made Sansone frown. He, like Katsuye, disliked certain things, but while Katsuye was abnormally scared of ghosts and ghouls, he was more frightened of aliens and monsters like that.

Still, KaibaLand was quite nice – the whole park was made with various levels and areas for different types of rides, games, etc, and made the best use of the huge tower and space, as well as of the computers and like needed to power said space.

The group soon came to one of the many arenas, about halfway up the tower. There, some kids were already gathered and cheering as a few men waited near a strange, glass box with a table inside. Yugi, who’d been awed and quiet since they got in, now suddenly spoke up and appeared almost frightened.

“Grandpa!”

\--

The group was given seats to watch as Kaiba had said he was going to play against a ‘previously unbeaten’ champion, Yugi obviously nervous about what Kaiba meant to do and why his grandfather was there. Layla watched with some curiosity after the first card became real, Kaiba explaining that he’d created the area to make the games more exciting, smirking as Yugi’s grandfather shivered but nodded. Yugi seemed nervous about the battle, Layla leaning in to say, “I’m sure your grandfather will be fine, Yugi.”

“I’m still worried,” Yugi muttered, “I know that he’s able to hold his own, but just…he hasn’t played anything like this.”

Layla was silent at the admission, considering before saying, “I’m sure he has.” Yugi looked over at her and she gave him a small smile. “Sugoroku Muto is a name mentioned in history, as a great and reckless gamer. Even if that was in his youth, your grandfather was still a King of Games. He’s putting up a good fight.”

Yugi blinked as he looked at her, then back to the enclosed booth. Layla wasn’t one to lie, and she seemed confident that Yugi’s grandfather was who she said.

_How many others have that name? Grandpa said he’d once traveled, had played many games…maybe she’s telling the truth._

Grandpa suddenly chuckled, pulling out a card as a Blue Eyes appeared, roaring and shifting on the field.

Kaiba, activating a trap to keep it from attacking for three rounds, smirked as he played three Blue Eyes in a row.

Yugi felt himself freeze in fear, everyone going quiet and watching as Kaiba used the three Blue Eyes to attack and defeat Sugoroku Muto soundly, standing and leaving the box. It clicked shut, and after a moment, his eyes locked onto Yugi’s and he said, quietly, “Oh…also…’penalty game’.”

Something inside Yugi froze even as his grandfather let out a sudden scream, the monsters from the cards suddenly coming to life and turning on him, Kaiba holding up his three Blue Eyes and the one that Yugi’s grandfather had put down last before casually ripping it in half.

“GRANDPA!” Yugi yelled, standing up and running to the box as Layla and the others stood, the kids looking confused as Yugi yelled at Kaiba, “Stop that, please! Please, Kaiba, I’ll do anything, just--.”

“He’s an old man who doesn’t need to be tortured for you to prove a point, kid,” Layla said, her voice taking on an edge that made even Jounouchi and her father step back. “Let him out.”

Kaiba stared her down, finally saying, “I will…if Yugi agrees to participate in the Death-T Park.”

“Like hell!” Jounouchi’s dad shouted, Jounouchi looking over at him as he said, “Death-T’s an obstacle course to the top two areas of the park. It’s meant to be an endurance course for major game competitors.” He glared at Kaiba as a few of the men and women nearby shifted, answering questions as Yugi swallowed, looking between the box and Kaiba.

“I’ll do it. Please, stop the game and call an ambulance!”

Kaiba nodded, the images disappearing as Yugi ran over and Kaiba said, “The medics are on their way already. I’m not that cruel.”

Layla was silent before snorting, obviously annoyed by something. Kaiba glared at Jounouchi’s father, who returned it as Jounouchi stood next to him, her hand clenched into a fist and both looking ready to clock him.

“Don’t either of you dare,” Layla said quietly, the two not removing their mirrored glares from Kaiba. “Yugi’s going to beat him, so you don’t get to do physical beatings. Besides…” she smirked and motioned to the crowd, “I’m sure your little fans wouldn’t want you to set a bad example, now would they?”

The medics got their quickly, Yugi remaining by his grandfather’s side and accepting the deck from him, listening and finally stepping out, the cards held tightly in his hands.

“I heard what he said,” Kaiba told him, turning away from the other three, “you really think you can beat me with his deck?”

“I made a promise to him,” Yugi muttered, Layla looking annoyed at the retreating older Muto and the medics, “I said I’d beat you with this deck, and I will.”

“Please! I have three Blue Eyes!”

“That only gives you three chances of forty to pull them,” Layla pointed out, “and even if I think your grandfather’s a horrible loser for making you play that deck…I’m going to get this kid to the top.” Her glare leveled full-force on Kaiba. “Watch me.”

“I’m not letting him go it alone!” Jounouchi ran up, smiling at Yugi as she said, “Even if I’m not as cynical as Layla is about the cards. I wanna watch you kick Kaiba’s butt at Duel Monsters!”

There was sudden cheering and chants, either for Kaiba or Yugi, as Jounouchi’s dad looked up, eyes locking on someone before he gave a sheepish smile and said, “I came here to spend time with my daughter.” He walked over to stand next to Jounouchi and smirked, “I only worked on the construction, not the design. And anyway, I could never pass up a chance to prove how awesome my daughter and her friend are.”

Kaiba was silent before he laughed and, with a grand gesture, commanded, “Open the doors to the Death Theme Park!”

\--

“Please tell me you were joking when you said ‘endurance’,” Katsuye muttered while they walked up the corridor, her dad chuckling and shrugging.

“Not really. The Death Theme Park is divided into five main stages, from what I know. The last two are stadium challenges. It’s made for teams of anywhere between one and six, and can easily be adjusted depending on the numbers.”

“I’m more worried about what’s ahead,” Layla said as they walked, “And seriously? Who makes a park labeled after ‘death’?”

“I only worked on the start of it! I don’t know what’s up ahead!” Sansone protested, Yugi managing a smile as he sheepishly smiled at the kid. “And it’s just an endurance thing. It’s not like we’re really gonna die.”

“Um, no offense, sir, but my grandpa almost died because of Kaiba. And he wasn’t even _in_ Death-T.”

Sansone fell silent as they reached the first door, labeled ‘Death-T-1’. Katsuye sighed as they passed in. “Dad’s just saying it’s a stupid move for Kaiba to make this place _just_ to kill us. Granted, Dad’s made mistakes before.”

“Katsuye!”

“He’s also made misjudgments before,” Layla said as they walked into the red-lit area.

“Layla! Look, I do have a point about not setting up a major attraction to kill people! Just…that sometimes accidents happen.”

The other three sighed and Sansone looked to the side. “Ok, fine, I’ll shut up now.”

“Finally.” “Katsuye!”

“H-help me! You’re our only—what the hell are you doing here?”

“Anzu!” “Who?” “Mazaki!”

Anzu crossed her arms and glared at Jounouchi, her outfit a sort of suit with leggings and a metal chest piece with some sensors. “I thought we weren’t going by last names anymore, Katsuye.”

“And I thought you stopped taking jobs that guaranteed gawkers and perverts,” Jounouchi replied, pointing to Anzu’s outfit, “Who the hell designed that?”

“I know the guy,” Sansone muttered, “’Pervert’ is a compliment.”

Layla rolled her eyes as she said, “Look, she works here, she’s a friend, can you _please_ explain what’s going on?”

Anzu blinked and quickly explained, “This area is the Stardust Shootout. What I was saying before was to set the stage for it.” She motioned for them to follow as she said, “The line is, ‘Help me! You’re our only hope! The station is being overrun by the enemy!’”

“It’s a setup for laser tag?” Yugi asked, looking a bit scared. He was never any good with that sort of game.

“Kinda, yeah. You put on three vests and go up against another team of three in the area beyond. If you’re shot on the main area,” she pointed to the sensor, “then you ‘die’. First team to beat the other three is the winner.” She frowned. “I wasn’t told what to do with four people, though.”

A screen nearby lit up, revealing Kaiba as the group glared.

“ _Yugi, the rules here are…a bit different. In this case, your friend will be escorting you to the other side, though the rules of engagement against the other team still apply. I should warn you…since you appear to be the best at all games, I chose only the best to go up against you. Have fun._ ”

The screen blinked out as Anzu moved to get the three vests with laser guns and an extra one, handing them over. “I need to stay here, or go and see what’s going on. Sorry.”

Yugi nodded, the group moving into the main arena and all hiding behind the first main structure.

“now what?” Sansone whispered, looking over at Layla.

“Wait,” she whispered back, “the enemy will be trying to sneak up to us. We need to draw them out.”

Seconds, then minutes, ticked by before Katsuye let out a breath and stood up.

“Katsuye!” Sansone hissed, his daughter smiling briefly before climbing up to the top of the structure.

Yugi watched with baited breath before someone let out a very unmanly yelp, Jounouchi shouting, “Hey, I found one of those bastards and he’s a cheap-ass piece of—“ then there was a string of English words that Yugi guessed, from the looks on Layla and Sansone’s faces, were curse-words.

“Katsuye Jounouchi, I did _not_ teach you those so you could use them like that! AND YOU SONSOVBITCHES GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!”

Layla dropped her face into her empty hand as Sansone went after the two, returning and dragging his daughter along before saying, “Pull back to the main area.”

“What?”

“Now! The game’s on pause.”

The group quickly raced back, Yugi blinking as he noticed Sansone’s angry pacing and Katsuye’s concern.

“Dad…”

“The bastard rigged the game,” he said, “I hit those guys twice and their sensor didn’t pick it up, but I got hit and it shocked me for good measure!” he pointed to his shoulder, Katsuye moving to check and frowning at what she found.

“Dad, there’s a bunch of exposed electrical stuff here. I mean, this is basically a walking death-trap.” She moved over to the others and shook her head. “None of these are safe.”

“And the guns?” Layla asked, watching as Katsuye took hers and moved to grab Anzu’s gun, looking them both over before shooting one at the spare vests, getting it to suddenly light up and spark with electricity.

Yugi moved to touch Katsuye, hoping she was ok. The last time someone had shocked her, she’d nearly died and had spent some time in the hospital. If Kaiba had set this up because he knew she’d be there…

“Anzu’s gun is set to kill,” Katsuye said, sounding almost angry, “and I’m guessing so are those guy’s guns as well. I should’ve grabbed that bastard’s gun when I had the chance.”

Layla let out a huff of annoyance. “We thought this would be fair, Katsuye. It’s not your fault.”

Sansone considered before glancing up at the screen, noticing the other two guys hadn’t stopped the game and were, apparently, unaware of their retreat. “Do we have time to get our guns working?”

“They’re missing too many components, and I suck at electronics,” Katsuye pointed out.

“So…just the one?”

“Dad…”

“Hey, I said we’d bond…let’s bond.”

\--

To be fair, Katsuye was able to lower the setting on the guns, and really, the two guys didn’t expect a similar assault as the one before, so they weren’t looking up when Jounouchi dropped on them, her dad acting as ‘bait’.

Kaiba made a mental note to fire the man who’d worked on Death-T-1. He’d said to hire the best, not to stack the deck, and if the rest of Death-T was going to be like this, his reputation was not going to remain for much longer.

“B-but sir…your father--.”

Kaiba found himself gripping the man’s shirt, fear almost palpable as he held the sniveling man up. “I…am _not_ Gozaburo. Now you get out of here, and if you even _think_ of stopping for a reference, you’ll find out how true any of those rumors of my…sadism…are. Got it?”

There was a whimpered affirmative before Kaiba let the man go, returning to the monitors. Sansone Jounouchi had been right in saying Death-T was not _supposed_ to cause death…but just as right to know that ‘accidents’ did happen. Kaiba had set up the park to be deadly, with traps to deal with Yugi and whoever was foolish enough to come with him. That it was Jounouchi had sent Mokuba into a strange rage. Kaiba guessed that she was the last in his long string of attempts to find the girl who’d helped them out in the orphanage. That they both had similar names helped, Kaiba was sure, but the obsession was starting to wear thin on Kaiba’s nerves. Gozaburo had ensured Kaiba knew _exactly_ what type of girl would take him, and Jounouchi was not one of them. Well, she was, but only as a side-attraction, if that.

Kaiba didn’t see her as such. The girl was too poor, too willful, and far too annoying to stand for long. Besides, he wasn’t about to take Yugi’s seconds, not when he could easily find someone that would easily bed him and not involve herself with anything more than being a perfect wife for Seto and perfect sister to Mokuba. Jounouchi wasn’t even in the competition, and for Mokuba to fixate on her because of some weird-girl who’d given them newspapers as a child was stupid.

He’d have to put an end to it soon. Hopefully without Mokuba straying further away from Kaiba then he had under Gozaburo’s influence.

Anzu had joined the group, apparently having quit and now stuck in the leggings, skirt, and shirt from the ‘Space’ zone of Death-T. They were going down the corridor, frowning as they reached the start of Death-T-2.

“Oh crap.”

“Katsuye, breath.”

“No. I am _not—_ “

“It’s the only way out, Katsuye? What’s wrong with you?”

“She has a phobia of horror things. Mostly stuff like that,” the woman, Layla, said and pointed towards the entrance of Death-T-2, the Horror Zone.

“hehehe…welcome.”

Kaiba and the guards nearby winced at the scream that Jounouchi let off, and at the shout of, “WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, YOU GODDAMN CREEP?” that her father leveled at Hobson.

“Hehehehe,” Hobson chuckled evilly, saying, “if she’s so easily scared, she won’t survive the ride to the next level.”

The cart moved up, everyone looking at it dubiously as Hobson said, “You all have to get on. It’s the only way to the next part of the game…or are you quitting so early?”

Sansone muttered something in English that Kaiba’s mind translated as a string of curses, promises, and general complaints as Layla sighed, saying, “There’s no other choice.”

Jounouchi let out a whimper, reminding Kaiba of a scared dog, but they were all soon in the ride, Layla seated near the back right before the cart activated for the main group, locking them in place and putting electric chair gear on them. Hobson chuckled, explaining that the Electric Chair Ride would require them all to be quiet in the face of dangers, himself included.

_Another skewed game,_ Kaiba thought in disgust, _Hobson is a master torturer, and knows how to remain silent in the face of all dangers. Considering how badly Jounouchi reacted to just the start of this level…well, I won’t have to worry about her. Possibly her father either._

The cart ride went on, past the first main area to scare them without anyone making a sound, as Kaiba saw Hobson tap something to activate a switch.

The minute a puff of air went by Layla, who seemed immune to all the horror stuff, her eyes narrowed and, briefly, caught one of the cameras. For a second, Kaiba was sure he saw them glow, like a cat’s eye in night-vision, before all of the cameras went to static.

“What’s going on? Quick, get--.”

Hobson screamed. Kaiba blinked as he heard what sounded like the heavy, deep breath of a lion, ready to roar, and a sickening crunch right as the cameras all came back on.

“We’re here,” Layla said, the car letting them go as Yugi shakily got off the chair, Anzu swallowing before saying, “I…I’m glad that’s over. That was so scary!”

“It was innovative, at least. Probably part of Kaiba’s other rides,” Layla said, the two slowly nodding as Sansone stood up and said, “oh…”

“Jounouchi?” Yugi asked, the group going over before Anzu chuckled.

“I can’t believe she fainted!”

Kaiba blinked at the news, checking another angle to see that, yes, Jounouchi had fainted at the first attraction.

“That’s probably a good thing,” Layla pointed out, “and I didn’t say it was a phobia for nothing, Mazaki. She is really scared of all this stuff.”

Sansone Jounouchi gently woke his daughter, who promptly took in a breath and shakily stood on her feet.

“Did we win?”

“I guess so,” Sansone said, pointing back. “The scary guy isn’t here.”

Another check, making Kaiba blink once more at the disappearance of the body of the former butler. All that remained was a semi-shredded black cloak.

“Get someone down to fetch that cloak,” he said to one of his men as Yugi and his friends moved to the Murder’s Mansion, “and see if we can’t recover the minutes that we lost visual.”

\--

They moved into the darkened house, Layla leading the way as the doors slammed shut and Jounouchi tried to open them.

“I think we need to find the exit,” Yugi said, “to head to the next part of the game.”

They looked over at Sansone, who groaned.

“I didn’t make this part of the attraction, and if I did, it was back when it was just structure! I have no idea, ok?”

“Let’s look around,” Anzu suggested, “maybe we can find the exit.”

The group slowly divided and looked around the freakish room, Yugi discovering a slip of paper labeled ‘bllood’ and Sansone shouted, “There’s no second floor! The stairs are fake!”

At that, a hologram of Kaiba materialized over Jounouchi and Yugi. Yugi was surprised, and didn’t notice Jounouchi turning red and looking to the side as her dad came down, Kaiba saying that they’d best hurry to find the exit or something terrible will happen.

“We managed to get the services of an expert in horror, the one who terrorized the Domino Lake area a few summers ago.”

\--

Kaiba silently swore to fire everyone and hire better people when this was all done. Could Gozaburo _never_ do anything without attempting to stack the deck?

He took control of the words, telling them the way out, via guillotine puzzle, and remarking that the clue was somewhere in the room before disengaging the hologram. A glance over at the men responsible for the level showed a few of them trying to not sweat.

“Which one,” Kaiba said as he slowly stood, “of you _idiots_ is responsible for the Chopman being in my park?”

A few of them started sweating even more, Kaiba listening to the panicked notes of the group while Jounouchi and her father said something about ‘blood’ being spelled wrong. The click to say that they’d discovered the right button was interrupted by a sudden scream and the group yelling, “Jounouchi!” “Katsuye!”

“Um, sir, just…we made a deal with the…with the Chopman,” one of the more nervous men said, shifting when Kaiba’s glare fell on him. “Just…if he kills one of them, the others will…um…”

Of course, Mokuba chose that time to come in, blinking as he looked at the monitors then back to Kaiba. “Brother…what’s going on? What about our bet?”

“Our bet, apparently, didn’t factor into these idiot’s heads,” Kaiba said, pointing to the men who now looked quite worried. While Kaiba could be cold and calculating, Mokuba had not exactly been known for his restraint in firing people, and Gozaburo had, if anything, encouraged his selfish nature.

The pre-programmed version of him played as Jounouchi backed away from the Chopman, glaring at the huge man has he went after a chainsaw, her father and friends arriving to try and help.

Kaiba left Mokuba to fire the group, watching Jounouchi look around and grab something before turning to the door. The Chopman, it appeared, was stupid enough to get his chainsaw stuck in the stone pillar in the middle of the room.

The Chopman pulled it out and started the chainsaw again just as Mokuba ran up, watching Jounouchi casually step out of the way and smirk as the door and candle fell into the tar-filled room.

“Oh, what a gentleman,” Jounouchi said, her father pulling her out in time as the room caught fire and the Chopman went up in flames.

Mokuba let out a relieved breath and watched as her dad hugged her close, Jounouchi muttering something to him and hugging back briefly as Anzu and Yugi waited for their hugs as well, Yugi looking more and more frazzled.

_It’s been a while since there were rumors about what happens to those who hurt Yugi. The last one was a few months ago, dealing with that Imori kid who was found brain-dead in an empty classroom._

He didn’t know much about it, as the family was very tight-lipped about everything. Kaiba slowly tuned out Mokuba’s rant and orders to fire the men who’d gotten the Chopman while watching the group proceed. His mind was slowly putting them into chess pieces, wondering when their unity would break. He doubted it’d be soon – Jounouchi’s father showed himself to be loyal to his daughter and her friends. And despite not really focusing on rumors, Kaiba knew that Yugi and Mazaki were just friends, and had been for a while. It was only recently that Yugi and Jounouchi had become such, and considering how often they were appearing together, or getting hurt together, it was a bit obvious the two were dating.

While Layla might be an unknown, she was obviously friends with Yugi and the Jounouchis, meaning she wasn’t about to betray them.

_There’s no good area to push_ , he thought, sitting back, _and all of them seem to be working well as multiple pieces, though Yugi is obviously the king._

The other problem was what happened if he pushed the ‘king’ too much. For all he wanted to deal with Yugi on his own terms, he also knew that the other side of Yugi, the one that had given him the nightmare and revelation, was starting to bubble to the surface. Kaiba knew it’d only be a matter of time before the other Yugi woke, and then would have to deal with how much Mazaki, Jounouchi Sansone, and Layla knew of his ‘condition’ and actions.

\--

While Death-T-1 and Death-T-2 had both been themed attempts to kill them, Death-T-3 seemed designed simply to bore them to death. They’d noticed an opening high above them, but so far couldn’t figure out how to reach it. It was too high up for them to reach by standing on each other’s shoulders, and there were no other markings on the wall beside ones that would make up a block-shape that was about as tall as Mazaki, or at least tall enough to be climbed on by everyone.

The group finally sat in a circle, Yugi trying hard to not panic or let his other side out. They’d nearly died multiple times now, because of him. If he hadn’t brought Grandpa’s card to school that day, if he’d had more control…

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, “I’m so sorry for getting you all into this. It’s my fault.”

“Yugi, stop that!” Jounouchi told him, moving to shake him briefly, “We came here because we’re a team! Can’t you see that?”

“Katsuye,” Anzu said, getting Jounouchi to stop and let out an annoyed breath before she told him, “Before I met you, I didn’t have the greatest self-esteem. I know you don’t know this, but I took a piece of your puzzle…the day before that whole thing with Ushio. Getting it, and giving it back…that was the hardest thing I ever did, but afterwards, I started to like myself more and more.” She managed to smile as Yugi tried hard to not cry, failing as Anzu moved over to hug him, Jounouchi still in front of him and smiling as she wiped away his tears. “I’m not going to give up on myself again…so don’t think I’m going to give up on you. Ok, Yugi?”

Layla smiled at that, Jounouchi’s father looking proud as Yugi swallowed and nodded. He suddenly didn’t mind that he knew little about Layla, or that Jounouchi’s father hadn’t been the nicest when they’d first met (sort of). He had friends. He had people to help him along. This small group was just part of that…there was also Hanasaki, and Honda and Miho…he wouldn’t be alone, ever. He’d always have friends.

“Look out!” was all the warning they got before rolling out of the way, a huge block landing near where they’d been as there was a sudden click before another began to fall, separating Yugi, Jounouchi, and Anzu.

“Crap, looks like they had to set things up,” Jounouchi’s father muttered, then let out a yelp as he was nearly hit by one of the falling cubes.

“Get up on them,” Layla said, “and try to stay away from the walls—“ she cursed and ran after almost being hit by one, climbing up and helping Yugi up right before another one sealed off the first floor.

Anzu paused on one as Jounouchi said, “Hey, we have to try to climb them up—“

“We don’t know where they’ll land!” her dad argued back as Anzu suddenly moved and pointed. A block fell where she’d been,and the group looked over at her as she pointed to where the next one would fall.

“It’s a rhythm-based puzzle. They’re falling at a simple rhythm, one that I know!”

With an intake, Layla said, “Ok, let’s get through this and to the exit.”

Anzu moved, trying to keep up with the falling blocks as the group moved up, the blocks becoming higher and higher around them and near the exit.

They were barely out when Anzu suddenly yelled, “Mr. Jounouchi, the rhythm!”

He barely moved from a falling block, blinking at something before reaching to grab Yugi, passing him to Jounouchi as she helped him through. The group shouted for him as he let out an exhausted breath.

“Sorry…this is as far as I go.”

“DAD!” Jounouchi screamed when they saw that his coat and shirt were stuck, stopping him from moving too far as a final block fell and cut off their view of him.

“DAD!” Jounouchi screamed, slapping the solid block and trying to push it before Layla pulled her back, Anzu and Yugi silent. Yugi kept his eyes down, trying to focus on breathing and not becoming his alter ego.

**_Let me out…they hurt her, they’ll pay, I’ll make sure—_ **

_NO! I won’t! I won’t let you hurt anyone else! I won’t, I won’t, I won’t! I can do this myself! I don’t need you. I won’t lose anymore time!_

“He’s still alive, we just have to finish this,” Layla said, as if comforting both Yugi and Jounouchi. “Just one more level and we beat Kaiba, then we make him pay, right? You’re dad’s strong, Katsuye. He’ll be alright.”

Jounouchi swallowed and nodded, Layla smiling at the group before saying, “You three…go take care of that Kaiba brat and whoever else is between you and victory. I’ll stay here and work on getting Sansone out.” She managed a semi-strained smile, one that made Yugi fearful of how much she believed what she’d said, “We expect front-row seats to seeing that bastard beaten!”

Pulling himself together as Anzu touched his shoulder, the look of concern saying she’d seen his near-transformation, Yugi finally nodded, the trip racing towards the exit and the sound of cheering.

\--

Layla let out a breath as she glanced at the solid wall between her and Sansone. A ‘small’ nudge was enough to get the blocks to stop, and while she knew that Sansone was alive, getting him out of the area was going to be tough.

“I see you found your way to him, ‘Mighty one’,” someone mocked, getting her to sigh. She should’ve guessed, after she heard about Pegasus’ various trips to Egypt, and after she’d felt more and more of the Shadows in the world again.

“I take it you’re getting well-paid for the deception,” she asked, “and probably better-paid if some of his friends ‘happen’ to die off.”

“It’s always going to be a showdown between that kid and Kaiba,” one said while she turned, neither seemed to think she was dangerous, “and after all he went through, thinking Kaiba set it up?” a sinister chuckle as they pointed their guns at her, “It’s only a matter of time before a _true_ Kaiba is in charge, not this half-breed kid that Gozaburo picked up off the street and his runt brother.”

Layla really didn’t have time for this. “I’m really quite annoyed right now, and very angry. You either help me by opening this area up, or find out why I am given that ‘mighty one’ title.”

The two laughed, one cocking his gun and leveling it at her chest. “You really think that would work, girl? We’ll be rich as kings if we kill you.”

_Ah, so_ he _hired you._ “Thank you for the information. I should’ve guessed it, but I’m getting tired of this game.” The cheering and light had somehow blocked out the heavy breathing of her pets, and the one nearest her screamed as a snake sank it’s fangs into his hand, the other turning and letting out his own yell, but not managing to fire in time to save himself.

Layla waited, tsking at the small amount of blood that got on her boots. She really didn’t like to leave things behind, but…well, the butler had deserved it for cheating, and these two had only confirmed what she was suspecting.

_My star has a great deal to prepare for. Even though I know he’s ready, I’m still worried about his other, and about Katsuye and that girl, Anzu. Plus, if the Items are starting to circle and end up here, I know a few that will cause problems._

Finished thinking about the past, Layla turned back to figuring out how to get Sansone out of the last arena.

\--

Mokuba stood at the end of the gangplank, watching them after he’d commanded Yugi to approach, alone. Apparently that stupid girl Mazaki thought it was too dangerous, and Yugi appeared torn between going as himself, or as the other side.

_Doesn’t matter which side faces me, I’m winning. I’m going to win my bet with Seto and show him that she’s Katsuye, that we don’t have to run from our past, and he can have someone who’s perfect!_ Mokuba knew that, no matter what else, Katsuye _would_ be perfect. He’d heard she could make items and knew, after the night spent home, that she could cook. She was the best, and perfect for Seto and Mokuba. He’d have someone and make sure she was safe, not in danger like how Yugi always put her.

Yugi walked forward instead of his other self, though Mokuba caught a glimpse of him as he glared down at Mokuba and seemed annoyed.

“The only way up to my big-brother’s level is to beat me,” Mokuba said, “You do, and you’ll live. Same for your friends, too.”

He would apologize later, tell Katsuye that he _had_ to do it or else Yugi wouldn’t have participated, and then he’d make the guard apologize a lot.

There was another flash of the other Yugi, before the regular one glared at Mokuba, who smirked before saying, “This is Death-T-4, the battle-dome for Capsule Monster Chess.”

It was easy enough to show off how the game worked, the game board and virtual monsters appearing underneath. It was similar to what his brother had originally designed for the Duel Boxes and Duel Monsters, but considering how hard it’d be to set up and play, he’d scrapped it and instead worked on making a smaller, better game to play in a setting most Duelists were used to.

Still, this area was good for some games like Capsule Monsters and other, similar games. Mokuba was looking forward to showing it off as he beat Yugi.

“Oh, and the loser has to get a Penalty Game, just like your grandfather got!”

Another shift, briefly to the other Yugi then back, before Yugi said, “I’m going to beat you, Mokuba. Make no mistake!”

_Please. The only one who can defeat us is your other side, you loser! Don’t worry, Katsuye. We’ll be a family soon enough._

\--

**_He’s doing the same thing as before…our luck is not that—_ **

_Shut up!_ Yugi thought to the darker part of himself, who was almost at the edge of conscious and trying to push Yugi back. He looked at all the Capsule monsters and the board, knowing the other side was right about cheating. There were few ways that he could get all the high-level monsters, and Yugi all the low-level ones.

That meant Yugi needed to focus on strategy. If he wasn’t careful, he could lose easily.

_I’m not going to lose. Not this time!_

It wasn’t hard to read what Mokuba’s possible attacks were, and the best way to defeat him despite not having monsters. It just meant he had to be confident.

_I can do this on my own._

Yugi passed on his turns, after setting up his monsters.  He knew enough about the ones Mokuba had picked for himself to know their special attacks and what he needed to do.

Yugi moved one of his monsters right before Mokuba attacked with his level 5 Armorzarus, attacking again with a special ability that, while it took out one more of Yugi’s group, didn’t take out another who had the ‘tunnel’ ability, instead leaving both Yugi and Mokuba with three monsters.

“My turn next,” Yugi said, moving the squid, “I go with my Ninja Squid to attack your Zoid M. It’s a lower rank, but it does have a special ability—“ the two disappeared as the Squid did it’s suicide attack, “and it cleared the way.”

The Evolution space, which Yugi had to get to on Mokuba’s side of the board, was now clear and open.

Mokuba tried to get his monsters to the one Yugi was moving, but in three moves, Yugi’s Beeton became its level 5 counterpart.

It easily took out the level 4 monster, and then stood face-to-face against Mokuba’s final level 5 monster, the two glaring before attacking.

Both disappeared, Yugi’s final monster emerging from the ground and blinking, looking around.

_I did it. I won, on my own._

Yugi slowly stood as Mokuba looked upset, saying, “I’m going now.”

The cheers grew loud as he got out of the box, many chanting his name or calling out to Mokuba, and just as many saying that they were going to get ‘better seats’ for the duel between the older Kaiba and Yugi.

The stadium was emptied just as Kaiba appeared on screen, saying to Yugi, “You’ve earned the right to reach the fifth stage. Go up the elevator and we’ll do battle.” A pause as Mokuba said, “Seto…brother…”

“You know the rules. It’s time you followed them for once.”

Yugi gasped as he saw the glass box fill with smoke, and heard Mokuba’s scream.

_No! I can’t let that happen!_

He felt himself stumble slightly, pushing through the odd sensation of having his body being pulled like taffy.

**_The boy deserves what he gets. He worked to help hurt grandpa!_ **

_I don’t care! I won’t let him get hurt! Not again!_

Yugi yanked the door open, reaching inside and grabbing hold of hand before pulling back, his other self sounding annoyed and trying to get control as the ‘sensation of death’ penalty game ended and Mokuba blinked at him.

“w-why? Why save me?”

“I…I couldn’t have gotten this far without friends,” Yugi managed, gasping and exhausted. Just getting to Mokuba left him too tired to fight the other side, and he managed a small smile, “and…maybe…I can start helping the people…that…that the other me…hurt…”

Yugi fell into darkness as his other side took over, looking at the pathetic child before him who appeared scared.

“Be grateful. It did take his friends to get him here, and all his strength to get _you_ out. I suppose that means he considers you worthy of his time. I still don’t see it. You’re still the spoiled brat that tries to follow in his brother’s footsteps, and has to cheat to win. Try to bother me again and I won’t be as lenient as before.”

With that, and without anything holding him back this time, the spirit headed up to the final battle.

\--

_I can start helping people the other me hurt…_

_You’re still the spoiled brat…_

_You know the rules. It’s time you followed them for once…_

Mokuba managed to not curse as he went to where that Layla Naunet girl was tapping on the wall, motioning for her to follow. She did, confusion written on her face.

“Who’re you?”

“Someone who can get that guy out of Death-T-3. Do you want my help or not?”

“Kid, don’t be so defensive,” Layla pointed out as he entered a code, a new opening appearing, “I’m allowed to ask. SANSONE!”

“HERE! Oh for the…ISN’T THERE A _LOWER_ OPENING?”

“STOP COMPLAINING AND GET YOUR FAT ASS UP HERE!” Layla screamed back, Sansone Jounouchi muttering and blinking when he saw Mokuba after Layla helped him out. “Hello. Who’s he?”

“Someone who got you out. I’m guessing they’re up at Level 5 or whatever it’s called.” She looked at Mokuba, who nodded.

“Yugi’s fighting Kaiba at Duel Monsters. Katsuye Jounouchi and Anzu Mazaki should be there. Come on, I’ll show you a way up.”

“Good, this guy’s been useless. He makes up the place but doesn’t know any safe ways out?”

“You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

Mokuba felt himself smile, then focused on the task ahead. Even if Duel Monsters could take time, he doubted that would be the case here. Seto was going to work to get his three Blue Eyes out, so he could destroy Yugi and prove…something. Since Gozaburo’s death, his brother had been different, more vindictive and angry.

_I wish I could help…or fix things. I wish I’d won, and been able to get Katsuye. She’d fix things, she always did._

“Mokuba Kaiba,” Mokuba felt himself freeze and turned, looking up at the somewhat smiling face of Sansone. “I remember you from when you were just a runt, following after my daughter on her paper route.”

Mokuba felt his eyes grow wide. _Katsuye_ is _Jounouchi! I knew it!_

“Things have changed,” he said, moving as Layla lagged behind, muttering about security or something, “You’ve grown, for one. Bit more of an asshole, too.”

Mokuba glared at Sansone, who held up his hands. “Look, it’s ok. Considering who adopted you, I’m kinda amazed you aren’t more sadistic. Mind explaining what’s up with your brother?”

Mokuba sighed, uncertain of where to start. “Gozaburo…he wasn’t nice. Then…he took something from Seto, and tried to make us enemies. Seto managed to get control of the company and…I heard Gozaburo threw himself out the window, committed suicide in front of him.” Mokuba swallowed. “Seto had called him ‘father’ for so long, then…then before that event, Seto wasn’t. He’s been getting worse, ever since.”

“Worse?”

“I can’t talk to him. I thought, if I defeated Yugi before Death-T, there’d be no problems. But I didn’t, and now…”

Mokuba felt a hand on his shoulder, solid and, while not Seto’s, it was assuring and seemed to at least keep him grounded.

“Whatever happens, Mokuba, your brother loves you. Sometimes, though…seeing a person die in front of you, especially if you like them…that can be hard. If your brother thinks he killed the only person he saw as a father, or a person who could’ve been a father…he’ll need to figure out how to deal with that, how to come to terms with it.”

_Gozaburo wasn’t our dad! He was a bastard, and I hate him!_ “H-He hurt Seto, he made him study and train and was doing all these bad things at after a while, and…and…”

“You _can_ say you’re glad he’s gone. He hurt your brother. He hurt you, I think. Trust me, it’s hard to say, and you don’t want to, but sometimes…well, you have to.”

Mokuba didn’t realize he was crying until Sansone pulled him into a hug and he was screaming into the torn, wet shirt, “I hate him! I hate that bastard! I wish we’d never taken the Kaiba name! I hate him I hate him I hate him!”

\--

The spirit enjoyed close games like this. Kaiba had made the game enjoyable, and while it was very hard to focus, the odd memory from Yugi about the Summoned God Exodia stirred hope at the same time.

_If summoning three Blue Eyes is hard in a deck of forty, getting all five Exodia cards before you run out of life-points is even harder. I see why Sugoroku Muto made his deck the way he did – enough to defeat an opponent if required, or to hold them off and summon Exodia._

The chance of drawing the final piece of Exodia was very low, and while there was no guarantee on this…he couldn’t just leave this duel unfinished, or think to that three Blue Eyes would defeat him.

_They might…but that makes this so much more interesting._

He smirked when he saw the card, and was quite happy to see the fear in Kaiba’s eyes as he announced, “I summon Exodia.”

The look of astonishment on Kaiba’s face was worth the moment, but he pulled back from it. Had he grown to hate this person so much that he’d do what Kaiba did to them? That he’d harm him again, as he had those before him?

Kaiba looked at him, and the minute their eyes met, the spirit knew what Kaiba was fearful of, as well as what had transpired.

_He didn’t stack the deck against us. He wanted to have us face the best, and instead had others around him make him appear evil. He doesn’t understand his own motivations either…_

**_A man fell from a strange height, screaming at Kaiba about losing, about how losers were all destined to die…_ **

“The loser must face a penalty game,” he said, feeling the Shadows rise up to his command at the thought of what had to be done, “Those are the rules, aren’t they? Consider this your atonement for what’s happened, Kaiba.”

He didn’t argue, though fear seemed to hold his tongue, and Yugi pointed at him. “The penalty game, then…Mind Crush!”

He stood, noting that the younger version of Kaiba was working to put his memories and his self back together, turning as the chant of his name grew loud enough to hear through the box and he stepped out. Nearby, the brat was talking to the guards who’d been watching over Jounouchi and Anzu, Jounouchi’s father alive and well, and Layla looking a bit confused before he shoved Yugi to the front. No reason for him to answer stupid questions.

**_Just don’t talk to her, and we’ll be fine._** His other self was awake, at least, and focused enough to look at Mokuba with some confusion when Jounouchi’s father said that the ‘kid’ had pulled him out of the last Death-T-3 area.

“I was…”

“Paying back whatever Yugi helped him with,” Layla said, smiling and looking at Yugi with her yellow eyes a bit too focused, “right?”

“Yes,” Mokuba said, looking over at Kaiba as Jounouchi’s father pulled her and Anzu away, Layla waiting a bit before following. When they were alone, Mokuba asked, “What did you do to him?”

The spirit easily came forward, Yugi not even trying to fight for control, and crossed his arms. “I made it so your brother would have to rebuild his heart. He’s gone through a lot, and something was poisoning him slowly. This will allow him to focus, and to understand himself and his motivations better. It may take a while, but he will fix himself, and reawake.”

Mokuba was silent for a long while. “I’m not going to thank you for it, or anything. It’s going to be bad enough, dealing with the people left over from our father’s regime. You made it a lot harder.”

“I never said I did it to make your lives easy,” the spirit told him, glaring at the child. “Just know that, had I not done that, your brother _could_ have become the man you so hate.” He turned away from Mokuba, but paused, considering. He really shouldn’t let his anger at this family get the best of him.

“Your brother needs a focus. Even if the same one from before. It will get him to put his heart back together. It may also make him more…attentive…to you instead of anyone else, but it will waken him quicker, and ensure that, even if you are in danger, you’ll have someone to help you.”

Mokuba glanced at him, blinking in surprise. “Really?”

“Your brother’s focus was on winning, on defeating the monster that was your father and, then, on defeating me so he wouldn’t have that threat over his head. Now, he can focus on his past, on the things he tried to forget, and on you. If you give him something to focus on, if you are there for him…then he will be there for you. It’s up to you, Mokuba, on how he recovers.”


	6. Millennium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group run into two holders of Millennium Items, as well as notice hints of a mysterious outside force. Is this person there to help, or hurt?  
> Also, Yugi and his darker half begin to have better communication. Finally.

Part 6: Millennium

Yugi didn’t always like to mention the fact that…well, he had crushes on guys. He got picked on enough without having to worry about what an admission like _that_ would bring down upon him. Most people already thought he and Jounouchi were dating, since Anzu seemed far less inclined to look for romance and that she was spending more working as the class president and doing what she could for the school, as well as trying to find a good job.

So he was quite happy when they got a new transfer student in, a white-haired boy with a kind smile and a soft-spoken, polite way of speaking, who said his name was Bakura Ryo. He ended up sitting next to Jounouchi, though most of the girls complained about Jounouchi being a ‘rotten apple’ who’d just give Bakura a bad impression of the class.

Jounouchi let the words roll off her and instead smiled at Bakura and helped him out, introducing him to Yugi, Anzu, Honda and Miho during class break.

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.” Bakura smiled at Yugi as they chatted, perking up as he heard information about Yugi. “Oh, your family owns a game store?”

“Yeah. Do you like games?”

“I’m mostly partial to Monster World,” Bakura said, letting Yugi explain it was a table-top RPG that pitted the DM (in this case, “Dark Master”) against the other players. Often, the game and the enjoyment hinged on how well the different groups did the role-playing, as well as how well the DM was at telling a story. The more skilled or larger the board, the more likely a longer game would be played or that a game would become more advanced.

Bakura smiled as he listened to Yugi explain it, his eyes amazed and also, almost excited at how excited Yugi was. “You know a great deal about games, Yugi.”

Yugi felt himself blush as he smiled sheepishly. “My grandpa lets me show off a lot of different games. Monster World is just a bit harder to show off ‘cause it requires a lot of people.” He didn’t want to mention that, up until recently, Yugi hadn’t had any friends to play these games with. Jounouchi seemed to pick up on his distress and said, “Oh, hey, why don’t we go over to someone’s house and play a game or two? It sounds fun!”

Bakura suddenly appeared quite nervous, shifting a bit before saying, “um…yeah…that…that sounds fun.”

The next recess had Miho and Honda talking to one side, and Jounouchi mostly herding the sudden fangirls that Bakura had away, muttering about ‘bossy women’ as Yugi sat with Bakura.

“You don’t want us to play?” Yugi asked, confused. He was also worried, understanding how secrets and problems could make you worried or even less likely to talk to others. He was lucky to have friends like Jounouchi and Anzu to help him, and to try and keep him sane, especially after what happened to Kaiba. He knew Jounouchi’s father had more news about it, but luckily Sansone Jounouchi didn’t talk to Yugi much, and didn’t mention what had happened or if anything bad had come of it. Even if Jounouchi and Layla said nothing had, Yugi still worried that they were just telling him that so he wouldn’t despair.

“Well…” Bakura shifted before saying, “Um…I was meaning to ask, Yugi, about your pendent.”

Yugi blinked at the change of subject, but smiled after a bit. He knew the reasoning for it, and nodded as he reached to hold it. “It’s actually a puzzle I finished making…the Millennium Puzzle. It was found in Egypt.”

Bakura looked it over, taking hold of it briefly and looking fascinated by it. “It’s nice. It looks just l--.” He suddenly gasped and winced, letting go of the Puzzle and reaching to hold his chest.

“Bakura?”

“It’s ok. Just…maybe I should go to the nurse?”

Yugi motioned to one of the girls, who happily came over to gush over Bakura before she heard he might have heart-trouble, instead instantly going into ‘nurse’ mode and helping him leave, apparently fine with Jounouchi stopping the gaggle of girls from following. Jounouchi frowned and looked back over at Yugi, who looked down at the Puzzle with confusion while questions danced around his head. What had happened? Had the Puzzle hurt Bakura?

\--

 _Most Millennium Items are like tombs of mighty, ancient souls. But…if there are_ keepers _of those tombs, then there also have to be_ grave robbers _…_

Yugi woke with a gasp, a hand going to his chest as he shivered and tried hard to not scream at the phantom pain in his chest. He felt like something was trying to dig in claws, to tear him open. Coupled with the earlier part of the dream, which had been pleasant and quite strange.

He’d been playing a game, a really weird one that involved Jounouchi and Bakura, and some weird rule where they had to take off clothing when they lost. Then, oddly, they were lying next to him on the floor, and he was being touched everywhere before he saw something, like from another person’s mind, and hearing it taunting him, about lost friends, and games…and wishes. Then there’d been a sharp pain in his chest before he’d heard the speech and woke, shivering and trying not to scream. He could feel the weird motion of the shadows around him, and while he feared his other side, he wasn’t as afraid of the odd shadowy power and movement that came with him. He supposed it was, in part, because of how they’d helped him find Jounouchi, as well as later, when he’d been trapped by the Dragon Cards.

Yugi slowly lay back down, hugging himself and trying to sleep. On the table nearby, the puzzle’s odd eye, which Yugi had learned was called a Wadjet eye, looked back at him blankly.

_Please let Bakura be ok. Please…_

\--

Bakura wasn’t at school the next day, and talk was up about the fact that one of the teachers, a gym teacher known for picking on Jounouchi, Yugi, and Anzu, as well as having been seen picking on Bakura yesterday, was now in a coma.

Honda had waved it off, saying it was just a coincidence and they should be happy that the assistant was nicer than Mr. Karita. Miho seemed happier that they weren’t having the sadist teaching them. A lot of students had complained about Karita’s harassment of them, especially with concern to their hairstyles and physical abilities. His assistant was a much nicer person, and few were upset about whatever had happened to Karita.

Jounouchi moved over to sit next to Yugi during break, looking obviously worried. “You think something happened?”

“I know it wasn’t me, but…” Yugi shifted, looking almost fearful, “I had a bad dream, and…Bakura looked like he wanted to talk about something that happened, when he saw my Millennium Puzzle. If he has something like mine…maybe…”

“You’re worried something happened to him? Like what happens to you?”

Yugi swallowed and nodded, Anzu sitting and looking just as worried before saying, “We could go and check on him.”

Yugi shivered as he felt his other side listening, shaking his head. “No. That would be dangerous.”

“If we don’t, we could get in trouble anyway,” Jounouchi pointed out, letting out a breath as the two looked over at her. “I heard about something like what was going on with the gym teacher. Originally it was just some asshole kids or other going into comas, or dying suddenly, but then…well, then it became kids from Bakura’s school who hung out with him. A lot of people grew afraid, and one person tried to hurt him, and ended up getting badly hurt physically. Bakura was too, but the kid claimed that Bakura…changed…and beat him up. Bakura had no memory of it, and he was really worried about his friends and didn’t seem to know what was happening either. He finally just changed schools.”

“You think he might have something like what Yugi does?”

Jounouchi shrugged. “It’s possible. We know there was a puzzle in a tomb, what if there are other things from that same tomb? Isn’t there supposed to be a ton of stuff in them?”

“It’s dangerous, Jounouchi. These…the games, the ones that my other side creates and plays, they’re dangerous and scary.”

She gave him a smile, looking a bit confused. “Yugi, we just went through a game called ‘Death-T’, and nearly died various times. Not to mention getting threatened before that. I know it’s dangerous, but that’s why I’m going to try and help. Bakura is a friend, and you two have a lot to talk about. I’d rather be in danger and help him, than just hide and do nothing.”

Yugi was silent a long moment before Anzu added, “Your other side will defeat him, Yugi. And I know you’ll be able to keep it from hurt the real Bakura.”

\--

It was bad luck that meant Layla got wind of their idea. She was obviously _not_ going to let them get into trouble, and certainly not when Jounouchi and the group had nearly died a couple of times during Death-T. However, Jounouchi wasn’t sure if she wanted her friend to come with them into something this dangerous.

Not because of the danger part, but more because...well, Layla was scary. If they freaked the other side of Bakura out, things could get dangerous.

The apparent compromise was Dad coming along, Sansone asking Yugi something briefly before saying he could take a day off and bond with his daughter in, hopefully, a way that was less full of death, or at least that didn’t involve her nearly being killed by an axe-murderer while he tried to get to her.

Jounouchi just hoped that Dad realized how embarassing it was that they were both asking about the RPG thing. It turned out Anzu’s other hobby, besides dance and secretly working, was RPGs and that she had at least two high-level characters on long-running campaigns with old friends. Yugi...he lived in a game store, he knew all the basics of all RPGs and easily explained the pros and cons as Bakura led them inside and let them create character sheets for the miniatures he’d made.

Which was not creepy at all, and apparently this other side was less inclined to try and hide as Bakura. _I’m beginning to think the only one with any sense of self-preservation is Yugi’s other side_ , she thought as her dad teased her about picking the ‘fairy’ class and deciding on being a Human Male Warrior. Anzu muttered darkly about being the only female character (with undertones of ‘again’) before choosing an Elf Magician. Yugi went with a half-Elf Male Beast Master, and Dad, being the guy who’d first given Honda his old airgun, went with a Human Male Gunner.

The information put into a laptop and the board ready, they started the adventure.

Which started out weird because Karita was there. _Seriously, I’m beginning to think the other spirit...thing...in Bakura believes we’re just idiots._ Her dad knew about Karita’s problems, but...well, Dad wanted to make sure she was ok. Also he didn’t like Karita - had a problem with a guy who yelled at girls and guys for being kids and running around like idiots - so he wasn’t very sympathetic to his plight.

The information about Zorc gathered, the group headed towards the castle, and Jounouchi’s character (Joe) killed his first monster. Everyone cheered and otherwise was fine with the game, though something itched at the back of Jounouchi’s mind. If they were playing a Shadow Game, it was either going to wait for them to cheat, or it was going to get them when they rolled a fumble with the ten-sided die.

 Said moment didn’t take long, as the ‘unknown man’ they came across who took them into the forest turned out to be Zorc, and Bakura put Anzu into the game.

Which Jounouchi was pissed at, so she took her turn ahead of time, fumbled, and ended up in her own miniature.

 _Great_ , she thought as Dad picked up the dice, ready to fight as Bakura smirked at him, asking if Sansone wasn’t just afraid. “After all,” the other Bakura said with a smirk, “in this game, you _are_ your character.”

Jounouchi saw her dad tighten his grip before saying, “I’m not afraid,” and throwing the dice.

He then cursed at them in English for landing on a 94, right before he ended up inhabiting his figurine as well. “CRAP! I wasn’t afraid you asshole!”

Yugi swallowed above them as he looked down at the board, than back up before saying, “Before I roll…send me down to board! Put me in my character!”

Bakura blinked. “Y-you want to go down? Then who will…” he paused, then smirked. “No matter. Who am I to deny you a request?” He motioned, Yugi stiffening briefly before his own tin self came to life. Bakura was laughing a bit before he suddenly said, “Wh-who are…”

“Well, isn’t it my turn?”

\--

To be fair, compared to before Bakura got to the whole ‘hey, lookit, you’re in a Shadow Game!’ part of this fiasco, they’d been doing fairly alright. Now, as they dealt with Zorc and his monsters and slowly made their way to the castle, Yugi was glad that they were at least doing better than earlier. Sansone Jounouchi had noticed when Bakura was cheating, and had smirked when Yugi cheated right back, and with the same technique.

“You can do that with dice?” Anzu asked, getting both Jounouchis to nod.

“It depends on the die and how things are going,” Sansone told her, considering, “Ten-sided are easier to spin like a top, and considering how heavy those are, you can easily spin them and get them to hit the other. It’s not that hard.”

“Plus we’re dealing with a guy who’s kinda obviously a cheater.”

Bakura glared at them for that as the game continued, Yugi playing for each and rolling as they reached Zorc’s castle. The group slowly looked around, being careful to not to walk further then the main room. There were a few suspicious areas, and at least one that was an obvious trap, but Bakura was being a bastard and not letting them find Zorc.

The four looked at the entrance then back to each other. They really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“I am never playing these games again,” Jounouchi muttered, her dad agreeing as they got in, she and Yugi in front while Anzu and Dad went behind. The spiked thing that dropped on their heads _hurt_ too, while the other Yugi was rolling to try and match up to the number that would raise up the trap.

Of course, Bakura chose that time to drag out Zorc, but he also seemed to be having his own problems, moving the computer away from his left hand and screaming out whenever it rolled die or something when he didn’t want it to. The other Yugi got them out and they managed to do some damage to the bastard, but not a lot.

Not until Yugi got a plan and used his summon hands to pull out a high-level White Wizard from Zorc.

“I’m Bakura,” the wizard said, managing a smile. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Katsuye, your friends are weird.”

“I know, Dad.”

\--

Getting them back into their bodies was easy enough after the other Yugi (Dad said to call him Yami, because having two Yugi’s running around was damned confusing) had returned Bakura to his own body and helped get the Millennium Ring off him. The thing appeared to be stuck in his chest, or at least the spines had, and Dad did what he could to triage the wounds as Yami, who apparently was still in charge, asked how Bakura had gotten the Ring.

“My father’s an archeologist,” Bakura told him, wincing at the antiseptic that Jounouchi and her father were applying before wrapping up his chest, “He’s not around a lot, and sends me things from his journeys. A little while ago, he said he’d gotten that from some odd man.”

Yami frowned and looked at the Ring, putting it down again before saying, “I doubt the spirit in it is fully defeated. You need to be careful, Bakura.”

Anzu looked over at him before asking, “Do you know a lot about your own past?”

Yami looked at her and finally shook his head, leaning against the table. “Not much, beyond what is known about the origins. I know I come from a much more distant time, and I know there are more than one Millennium Item, but I couldn’t name them all, or say that more than just the Puzzle and the Ring had spirits within. The main problem is what they mean.”

Bakura blinked as Yami said, “Thought the spirits within are…great, I suppose could be the word, or at least powerful enough to retain some memories, there’s not enough for a definite set of memories, not easily accessible. And even if they are, our time with the one who becomes attached to us,” he motioned to Bakura’s now-tended wounds, “means we’ll change as well. I’ve changed since Yugi finished the puzzle, and I have no doubt that the spirit of the Ring will change as well, or try to focus on one thing or another, since we’ve become known to each other.”

“Will it be fine if I…just don’t wear it?”

“It’s claimed you as the rightful owner. You couldn’t throw it away, not unless a person with a better power over the Shadows came along and fully subdued the spirit. I will warn you, that such a thing could result in your death.” Bakura swallowed and Yami looked back at the Ring.

“So Bakura’s stuck with a potential psycho in his head?” Sansone muttered, getting Yami’s attention.

“For now, Bakura will be himself – the spirit is dormant. However, that won’t last. The more he touches or uses the Ring, the more the Spirit will slowly awaken. He can work on understanding the power of the Ring, and the Shadows. That will, ultimately, be a defense. Not the best, but it will help.”

They were silent before Jounouchi asked, “Yugi said he…use the Shadows before, to find me when I was in trouble.”

Yami looked over at her and slowly nodded. “He knew you better, and while I do have better control and use of the Shadows, they are called that for a reason. This is old magic. It requires balance, and if you abuse the Shadows too much, you’ll pay for it later.”

“Return to get you three-fold type thing?” Sansone asked, clearing the medical stuff from the nearby table. “Ok. So why tell us?”

“You’re Yugi’s friends. And…I fear that more danger is coming. The spirit in this Ring is a danger, a grave-robber, but that isn’t the worse. As I said, neither I nor he would know how many of the items there are, or what they can do. The puzzle has powers, more so then possibly the others, but that doesn’t mean they can or should be exploited.” He glanced at the table and motioned, a small bit of darkness flowing over it before disappearing. “I released the souls from their prisons. All were complete, so your friends and those that hurt you should be waking soon.”

Bakura swallowed and gave a small nod. “Thank you.” He sighed. “My dad said he got it from a place near a thieves’ town, Kul Edna. It’s one of the many that grew up near the tombs, but this one is…odd. There are signs of a massacre that we have no record of.”

Yami was silent a moment before Yugi appeared, shaking his head and frowning. “I…that was weird.”

“Did you see the other guy?” Sansone asked him. Yugi shook his head, and Sansone sighed. “Ok, so we have Egypt and some thieves’ town that probably got killed off. Doesn’t sound good.”

Anzu huffed. “The whole ‘we could possibly get killed’ hasn’t sounded good. First Kaiba and his tech, now magic?”

Yugi looked panicked as Sansone pointed out, “Magic or not, there’s going to be trouble. We know a bit more about the items, and about where they were possibly made. Whatever happened at Kul Edna is probably something that either there’s a vague memory of, or something so bad that no one wants to talk about it.”

“Like what Layla was talking about earlier?” Jounouchi said, trying to remember the word.

“A Zeitgeist? Not quite.”

“A what?” both Bakura and Anzu looked confused.

“It’s a ‘time-memory’, or ‘time-event’,” Sansone said, “Layla points out that certain things become popular or start to get focus around the same time. There’s a lot of different ideas about it, but she said that it’s stuff like…a sudden uprising in a religion, or in people who are religious, or a type of era where all these important things are made or happen. Unless Kul Edna was part of a larger thing, I don’t think it was a zeitgeist.”

“So…what would it be?” Jounouchi asked, considering.

“Possibly it’s a tragedy, or loss. I know we’re saying certain things happen and remain for a long, long time, but not always. So like a pyrrhic victory…few people know about what the battle or guy was, but they have an idea it’s a victor that’ll cost you. Or the Meian era – anyone outside of Japan doesn’t know what’s so important about it…”

Bakura picked up on it. “So the town could have had something happen that was big when the spirits were alive, but that fell away over time?”

“He said that there was magic involved. Sometimes the creation of it is a good thing, and sometimes it’s not. Nature doesn’t come with a standard ethics code.”

The group fell silent before there was a loud pounding on the door, followed by, “Sansone! Katsuye! Anzu! Yugi! You’d better all be fine or so help me I will _end_ that Ryo fellow!”

“We’re alright, Lay—how did you know where we were!?” Sansone went to deal with an obviously pissed Layla, who later apologized for threatening Bakura, and frowned at the sight of the Ring but, otherwise, was at least happy to see them all alright.

\--

Two weeks later, Bakura was better and showing them an advertisement for an Egyptian exhibit his dad and a friend had helped out with. “Archeology isn’t cheap, and this is one of the few that was privately funded.” He shifted a bit and scratched at where the scars from the Ring were. “I personally don’t like the person who funded this run. He doesn’t seem to really…well, understand the importance of leaving the items to the country of origin, or even that the exhibitions are to just show off before you return the items.” Bakura shifts and looks a bit embarrassed. “I shouldn’t really say that.”

“It’s ok to be unhappy with someone,” Yugi said, smiling at Bakura to reassure him. Bakura had managed to get out of class for a few days because of the wounds the Millennium Ring had given him, and now spent time with Yugi, talking about how to try to stay awake or know himself better for when the spirit of the Ring tried to take over again. They both agreed that the Ring’s spirit was far more devious then the Puzzle’s, and there was every chance that some of their techniques wouldn’t work. Still, it was worth a try, and it helped that they were both becoming good friends.

The two fell into a comfortable silence before Bakura said, “Do you want to go and look at the Items? I know the other archeologist mentioned the Millennium Item Dad found…but…well…”

Yugi understood the fear. The Millennium Ring was probably really dangerous to everyone, and he got a feeling that few people survived wearing it, if the attitude of the spirit in it, as well as the spirit in his Puzzle, said anything. “If you want…it would be safer, at least.” He didn’t want to mention that not having the Puzzle had given him headaches, or that he could never really be away from the Puzzle for long.

Bakura smiled a bit. “Thank you. Professor Yoshimori doesn’t know a lot about it…he and dad argue about how old they are. Yoshimori thinks that they’re from the Old Kingdom, about 5,000 years ago, but a few think it might be from the Middle Kingdom, 3,000 years ago. Since so few have been found, and that one in a really dangerous tomb…” Bakura shifted in his chair, looking sad. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Yugi said, smiling, “we can go there on Sunday.”

“Go where?” Jounouchi asked, walking over to sit as Anzu, Honda, and Miho joined them.

Bakura explained about the Egyptian exhibit and how his father knew the professor in charge, which got Anzu, Honda, and Miho excited about the exhibit and going with the two. Jounouchi smiled and looked excited about going, up until she heard about the mummy that would be on display as well.

“It doesn’t happen often,” Bakura tried to reassure her, Anzu still looking a bit like this was the funniest thing. Yugi knew it wasn’t – Jounouchi had shown able to work around her fear of ghosts and the like, but not easily and not without help. Yugi quickly said that Layla could come along, since her dad had been called in for Sunday to help out with a new project that the construction team he was part of had been given, and she seemed to slowly calm down.

\--

Sunday came around quickly, and they all gathered outside of the museum, Bakura introducing them to Professor Yoshimori and the investor for the dig, Mr. Kanekura. Kanekura seemed a bit too interested in the Puzzle, but Yugi saw no problem with lending it out for the day, especially since he’d be near the museum and, thus, it for a long while. It also stopped the two from asking Bakura about the Millennium Ring.

The whole of the area was full of the various wonders from the tomb they found, Layla saying it looked like it wasn’t a king but more likely an important person.

Yoshimori smiled and nodded, admitting they’d found a tomb of an advisor it looked, since the tomb was small and, luckily, hadn’t been noticed by grave robbers. Layla quickly got drawn to two game boards in the area, smiling and saying they were two types of games that were popular in Egypt and that, unluckily, had no written directions.  “It’s horrible,” Layla admitted to them, Professor Yoshimori looking happy at her enthusiasm, “a lot of wall respites and writings talk about games of senent and other games. A lot were two-person, but at least one could have up to six players. Still, we only have the idea of what Senet meant or was played, since there aren’t any surviving works detailing all of the rules, just pieces and boards we find from tombs like this.”

Anzu was drawn to a piece from the Book of the Dead, depicting Anubis and the Weighing of the Heart. Honda and Miho both said the man sounded like King Enma, while the rest were drawn to various artifacts.

“Not all are from that tomb, of course,” Professor Yoshimori said, “a good deal are, but others are things we find often in tombs, both of high-ranking and lower-ranking members of society. I’ll show you all where some of the pieces we found in the tomb are, as well as a representation of the mummy we found.”

Jounouchi looked worried as Layla put an arm around her. “It’s just a visual and the coffin, Katsuye. No curses, promise.”

“I’m trusting you on this,” Jounouchi muttered as they went, though she wouldn’t get near the case. Yugi did, his curiosity getting the better of him as he looked at the picture. The Professor took the others further along as Layla and Yugi stayed, Layla letting out a breath as they looked at it. “Funny how so many think mummies are all cursed or Egyptian. Kinda like how all people think the Japanese have sushi or wear funny hats.”

Yugi chuckled a bit, looking over at her. “Layla, why is she scared? Jounouchi, I mean.”

“Jounouchi’s family is kinda sensitive to spirits and stuff. Or at least, they have a few in their family who are, on both sides. Her spirit is strong, but she’s been scared of some things. As to why, I’m not sure. Her dad never knew why, and she never gave me a straight answer.” The two paused and looked over at another man nearby, who was crying. The man was wearing a turban with an odd feather in it, and carrying some odd scales.

“Are you ok?” Yugi asked, “Why are you crying?”

The man seemed surprised by the question, and Layla seemed annoyed as he answered, his Japanese accented and stilted, “These are not my tears. In this rotted state, he looks like a doll of dust. However, the pharaoh is eternal, and his soul will live on with his name…”

“Egyptians thought there were five parts to a soul,” Layla told Yugi, getting the man’s attention at her annoyance and anger, “the name was one, the body was another. That, as well as most European countries being assholes with the artifacts, lead to Egypt passing laws in 1922 that Professor Yoshimori was talking about. America also passed such laws in the late 18th century, after a Scandenavian man took off with multiple Native American artifacts. Many Mayan and other artifacts are located in Spanish museums, and a great number of Egyptian ones from before the law have a place in the British and French museums. Plus, as I pointed out, this man wasn’t a Pharaoh. He might have known one, but he was not one himself. Not all who were buried in tombs of grand looks were such. King Tut himself was located in a tomb that had been built for one of his men – it was one of the reasons why it hadn’t been looted before.” She gave Yugi a tight smile. “Thieves always go on the ‘bigger the better’ ideas, and enough worked on the tombs to know the entrances and exits.”

The Egyptian man seemed angry at her interruption and apparent insinuation that he didn’t know anything, leaving in a huff as Layla shook her head and muttered, “Stereotype. I swear, he’s worse than those girls who blink at foreign otaku and make giggly noises.”

“Are you allowed to say that?”

“I like my air of mystery about where I’m from,” she told him with a wink of her honey-colored eyes, “let’s not ruin it. But, I will say I am from somewhere else, and that I personally dislike people like that man.”

“I got that. Just…”

“You were very cute and nice. He didn’t have to try to make the whole ‘I am crying because the one in front of me is a pharaoh’ speech. I could’ve thrown in an Incan mummy and he’d be crying all over it and saying, ‘Oh, my pharaoh’. Please.”

“What do you know about Egypt?”

“It’s complicated,” Layla told him as they got to where the Millennium Puzzle was being displayed, “They’ve got a long, rich history, but like Iraq they also have been somewhat cheated and forced into bad situations, invaded multiple times, and while they can trace back to one of the earliest western civilizations in Eurasia and Africa, they also have had multiple problems when Europe decided to do that whole Imperialism thing. Japan is one of the lucky ones that avoided most of the problems other areas had from 1492 onward.”

“I’m getting the feeling you don’t like that part of history.”

“Compared to now, that part of history is filled with racist, sexist bigots who can do various bad things to themselves with the poles Vlad Dracul was using to impale Turks and his own people with.  Granted, those were the men who could read, and most of them were in the Church, which has a worse track record.”

“I can hear you talking politics and history from here,” Jounouchi yelled as they came up, “stop it.”

“I haven’t done my rant at Yugi, and he’s too polite to make me stop, unlike you and Sansone,” Layla argued back, though she smiled at the display and ruffled Yugi’s hair, then Jounouchi’s during the photos they took in front of it. Near the end of closing, the group slowly headed out, Honda and Miho to their homes, Anzu to work, and Jounouchi and Layla off to get some dinner. Bakura went with Yoshimori to the university to pick up some letters from his father and talk a bit more while Yugi waited for the time when he could go and pick up the Puzzle. He was happy to note he hadn’t had a headache all day.

\--

Shadii had been surprised to see the boy again from the museum, the one with the rude female friend, and was even more surprised when he described the Millennium Puzzle and said it was his.

_This boy figured out a puzzle that had been lost and unsolved for 3000 years?_

He knew the Puzzle had been solved – the pull of the Shadows had been stronger, as the Puzzle was the strongest of the Millennium Items – but he hadn’t realized it was in Japan until some of his operatives had disappeared. Granted, they had been working through that Pegasus man, and not Shadii himself, but their disappearance and the pull of the Shadows to Japan meant that more and more were focusing on this area. It meant at least two if not more foreigners were able to hold the power of the Millennium Items, and it made Shadii a bit angry.

Bad enough that the Mighty One, the only one with the Name that would open the mystery door, had escaped them for so long, or that the tombkeepers on the western side of the Valley of the Dead had cut off all ties and hidden themselves, making it so they had to wait for their brat children to break tradition. But now they had a child like this one solving the impossible Puzzle?

It was hardly any real stretch to enter the child’s mind, frowning as he looked at the two doors. He’d seen many Soul Rooms while punishing those that had defiled the Valley and Egypt, but none had been so split. He frowned, looking into the open one and seeing only light and toys before looking at the other, darker one.

The door opened and a man, similar to the child, looked out with almost demonic eyes. “A visitor? How interesting. Come in, if you dare…the game is already set up.”

\--

To say Yami (he liked the name, ok?) was annoyed at the presence of someone like this Egyptian man is a bit of an understatement. He worked with the Shadows and knew that the Kanekura man was corrupt and would, ultimately, fall to a sad fate.

He had not expected someone to barge in, use the Scales (he’d known they were connected to the Puzzle as quickly as he’d known the Ring was, which was right when it began to use its powers) and that he had some other power. It felt _wrong_.

 _Absolute power corrupts absolutely_ , the modern saying came to mind, and he could see how such a saying would become not only popular, but how true it was.

The man answered when questioned about how he got into the room, something Yami was at least a bit grateful for, though he found the man’s assurance of his own abilities grating. He could see why that Layla woman had decided to pick on him earlier.

But Yami also _wasn’t_ happy with the easy way in which the man threatened to rearrange his Room. Yami knew little of himself, besides his connection to the Shadows and the Puzzle. Pieces of memories were harder to come by, and all he had in his mind was general knowledge. What the man had said about the Millennium Items was untrue – they had been created, but for another reason, and _nowhere_ were they in the Book of the Dead. His life would’ve been easier if they were.

He also knew that wielding _two_ was dangerous and could easily be corruptive. This man was showing it already, by so boldly entering their Souls and threatening Yami to rearrange the Room in the hopes of finding the ‘True Room’.

_Not that he would be able to. Even here, my power is stronger. The threat was more towards Yugi._

**_I don’t like it either._ **

_Shhh,_ he muttered to the other Soul. When he’d felt the man’s invasion of their mind, he’d pulled Yugi in, and now allowed him to watch over the proceedings of this Shadow Game, one that he felt no moral problem with rigging. If the man was going to feed the greedy to Ammut without any thought to the repercussions on those left behind, he could rot in the maze.

**_You were doing that earlier._ **

_I left them alive. Bullies are lower than low, and that’s what he is. Holding two Items for long periods of time is dangerous, especially if you turn self-righteous. I was in danger of that earlier. I no longer am now._

Yugi was silent as they sat in the trapped room, considering. **_Is that why you left the Ring with Bakura?_**

 _That and I know that being kept away from the Puzzle, or any Item, can be harmful. As far as I can tell, the Ring and Puzzle are the only two with Souls within them. The Ankh…Key, and the Scales do not have ones, or this idiot would be overwhelmed already._ He considered a long moment, _what he said was untrue as well. I think there was a great problem, considering how dangerous the Shadows are and what they have been used for._

**_What do you mean?_ **

_Despite everything, Bakura’s other self didn’t attack random strangers – he went after friends and enemies. When I released the souls, the friendly ones were in well-loved pieces, ones kept safe. The enemies were in the lesser-liked ones, the…NPCs, I suppose._

Yugi was silent a longer time as Yami continued, _I can only punish those that hurt you, that make you angry or sad. I seem to recall you getting quite good as pushing those feelings away…a dangerous way of dealing with things._ He sat back as Yugi walked over to where he was, _You hate that you can’t protect yourself, that’s why you’re learning to, at least, defend yourself physically. And mentally, you’ve grown as well. For all the Kaiba brothers made jokes, you are quite capable of taking them on._

**_You’re worried? About the Shadows that man uses? Why?_ **

_As he said, he could easily hurt you. I doubt after this, he’ll give up and go home. The spirit of the Ring, while dormant, will come out and try to get me and use the power there. The Shadows have been abused and misused, seen only as weapons to punish or hurt, or tools for the same purpose. I haven’t gone after a man to kill for some considered slight, nor have I attacked without letting them have every chance to win and leave the game. All the ones that got hurt were hurt because of their hubris._ Silence fell between them before Yami let out a breath, feeling the man get closer to the hidden room. _I am sorry for the trouble I have caused, and for getting you involved in these. Shadow Games are…hard…on the soul. It’s why I feel the need to play them, even if you feel strong. You have some darkness, from anger and slights, but others will push and hurt for the sake of hurting you._

 ** _Like what happened with Imori._** Yugi looked over at Yami as he nodded. While Yugi hadn’t told him what happened with the Dragons, he knew that his other self hadn’t been hurt. And Yugi had been able to deal with that ‘Spider’ character on his own as well, with the Shadows managing to help him teach the boy a lesson about playing fair and not simply stealing all the items. Yami was beginning to see how strong Yugi could be, but he also knew that the ones who held Millennium Items would take advantage and try to hurt Yugi, to the point of soul-exhaustion.

**_You think that something bad is going to happen if I go after him?_ **

_I think he will hurt you if you’re not careful, and would rather that not happen._ There was silence before Yami told his other half, who looked so young in that moment but so determined, _A competing game of two Shadows means the one who initiates the Shadow Game has more control. However, it also can be used to pressure the other soul. The more power pushed into the game, the more pressure on a soul, to the point of death. It’s why I worry, why I don’t like the idea of you facing one with a Millennium Item._

**_Even after the fight with the Ring?_ **

He looked over at Yugi, who shifted at his gaze. _That wasn’t really a battle. Did you feel any pressure? Any strange push that you couldn’t explain?_ At Yugi’s shake of his head, Yami continued, _The main two who feel pressure are those who use the Shadows – so myself and the other spirit within Bakura. If you were to take some of that burden, it would hurt on a level you are unable to push away._

**_You can…because you’re just a spirit, right?_ **

_Also because I exist within and work with the Shadows,_ Yami admitted, feeling the Egyptian’s presence nearing them, _I am not saying you’re not strong, Yugi. Just that such things are made to destroy souls, and few can face against them and come out whole. I have been using the games to punish or to allow others to see what they cannot on their own. If a person refuses a game, I do not force them into it. I have been manipulative before, but now I do not seek them out. If the Shadows are being pulled towards the Puzzle, I’d like to know why as well, and want to protect those dear to us._

Yugi looked at him in surprise, finally smiling before moving to hide when the Egyptian opened the door and stepped in, nearly falling down. Yami had no intent on throwing him into the darkness of the Puzzle – he had enough things to deal with, without having some nosy person looking through his memories, and frowned at the Egyptian’s rather clichéd half-hearted admittance of defeat.

“You shouldn’t be so eager to poke around people’s souls,” Yami said, glaring at him, “I’d leave while I still could.” The darkness was one place, but it would be easy enough to call up the Shadows to deal with this arrogant sod. However, that would require him to also hold onto the Ankh and Scales, both of which he wanted to avoid. Yami supposed he could give the two items to their friends for safe-keeping, but that would create risk, as well as there being a chance someone might try to take the item and fall prey to the darker halves of the shadows. Not all were so generous.

The Egyptian swallowed and nodded, heading out as Yugi pretended to be clueless about what happened and happy for the return of the Puzzle. The Egyptian said his name was Shadii, and quickly headed out of the museum, Yugi going a bit later before Yami whispered to him, _Call the police. I have a feeling that Kanekura is not simply rethinking his life._

\--

Jounouchi, Anzu, and Bakura were all worried and upset at the news about Kanekura’s death. Bakura wanted to check on Professor Yoshimori, afraid of what might happen to him, and upset over the idea of him getting hurt. Bakura was both amazed and frightened to hear of the man with two Millennium Items, shifting and waiting until after-school to ask about the ‘Game’ played.

“It’s not good,” Yugi said, recalling all he could, “the man’s power includes the ability to manipulate a soul room. He said that he could turn them into a doll…” Yugi shifted. “I’m worried that Shadii will try to hurt him, because he opened up the tomb.”

Bakura considered. “The spirit of the Ring said that there were tomb keepers in some of the Items, and that some were like great tombs for spirits like himself and Yami. But…having two Items does sound dangerous, even if neither have a spirit inside.” Bakura was silent a moment as they walked out of the school. “You should go and cheer Professor Yoshimori up.”

Yugi was silent a longer moment before saying, “If I go there…Jounouchi and Anzu will go there too. They’ll be in danger.”

Bakura looked over at him, frowning. “They’ve been in danger before.”

“Yeah, but…it’s just, I’m always afraid when they’re in danger. The other me comes out so quickly, and it…scares me, sometimes.”

Bakura nodded in understanding before saying, “The other me scares me as well. We have to still try and do what we can.”

Yugi considered a long moment before finally nodding. “I’ll tell them, and warn them about the danger. We still have to go and make sure Professor Yoshimori is alright.”

\--

Jounouchi had raced off, letting the zombified Yoshimori go after her when Yugi heard Shadii speak again, and he saw Anzu’s blank look.

He didn’t even have to get angry to have Yami trying to face him, but for a long moment, Yugi tried to stay, to face Shadii down and accept whatever game he would have. Instead, Shadii did all he could to pull Yami out, saying he wanted to see about the Puzzle’s power in reality, after being humiliated during his trespass. The threat of leaving Anzu without a voice or memories, as a ‘doll’, was enough to get him to accept the games, and he waited in the main room as Shadii set up the game.

“You know, you could’ve just ordered the Items to stop working for him,” a voice said, getting Yami to look and see only a shadowy outline of someone, the strange quality of it and the shadowed outline not allowing him to see if this was a female or male person speaking to him.

“Who are you?”

“A friend,” the person said, looking out of the window, “I came when I saw the Shadows at play. That man is…not a friend.”

“Do you know what he and his ‘family’ want with the Puzzle?”

“Most likely, they want to use it for power. There were two – one to the East, another to the West of the Valley of the Kings. Both sides have been hidden for a long while, but recently one has started to be…well, more active. You’ve seen the result of that activity.”

Yami was silent, looking up at the clock.

“You can awaken them with your power. You needn’t play this game.”

“I humiliated Shadii once, when he trespassed into my mind. I’m not turning down this challenge, or the chance to deal him a blow. After this, he’ll return to Egypt, and not use my friends against me.”

“He doesn’t need your friends to work against you, and he doesn’t need to be in Japan to hurt you, either. Remember that.”

Yami glared at the shadowy figure before saying, “Am I supposed to trust you on simply a few words? On the fact you say you won’t work against me?”

“Of course not,” the figure said, “that comes later, much like how much your little partner trusts you.”

The figure disappeared as 8 o’clock came around, Yami letting out a breath and heading up to the roof, and hoping that the figure was wrong, but having a feeling they weren’t.

_They won’t stop. This is only escalating._

Anzu stood on a platform, too far away to get in time, and four of the small ushabti tied to a board with Egyptian symbols, and a larger ushabti tied to the Ankh. Shadii smirked at him, saying, “Now, it is a time for the game. It’s called, the Weighing of the Shinri.”

Yami felt his own and some of Yugi’s confusion, his other self watching to try and get an idea about the Shadow Games that he could also control, to a degree. The word used was odd…it could mean ‘mind’, but also ‘truth’ or ‘trial’. It didn’t bode well, especially for someone who was so invested in the ‘truth’, in ma’at.

_Ma’at?_

**_Truth. Law. Rightfulness. It’s an Egyptian concept. If all is right, ma’at is in balance. If not…_ **

Yugi fell silent as Shadii explained that his family was all chosen to wield the power of the Millennium Item, just as the Puzzle had ‘chosen’ Yugi. Yami snorted inside of his mind, Yugi answering that he didn’t want anything to do with the group and for Shadii to just explain the rules.

_Why were you upset?_

**_What Shadii said is both true and false. Someone with a strong enough soul can become a holder of a Millennium Item. That doesn’t mean they can actually_ know _what the item does, or the full extent of themselves._**

_Like me?_

**_When you picked up the Puzzle, despite the warning, you knew you wanted friends. You wished upon the Puzzle and poured your heart into it. Even in your fear, you still fight to do what’s right, and to force me to look at alternatives. We are very different, Yugi, but the Shadows wouldn’t come to_ your _command if they didn’t see you as equals. These are called because the man has a strong-enough soul to not get eaten…not yet._**

“You’re frightened of the unknown power within your mind! Look!”

One of the ushabti began to crack, finally breaking as Shadii said that the ropes attached to the smaller ones supported the ‘bridge of life’, and that for each weakness shown to Shadii would result in more ropes being cut. Shadii’s ushabti held the Ankh, the key to rearranging Anzu’s mind.

_Was…was that ushabti mine? I…I mean…_

**_I know most of what the Puzzle can do, but not all. That, and the fact that it’s power draws more people to it, is what frightens me. As well, if all of Shadii’s family are like this, or they go after the spirit within Bakura…I am afraid of the power, but sometimes, it’s healthy to be afraid. He perceives it as a weakness, and that is why the ushabti broke._ **

The two were silent as the first game began, Yami pushed Yugi back so he could only observe, not participate. The Shadows were heavier than any game he’d ever played, and Yugi shivered, despite being so far removed from them.

Hands sprouted from the ground, ghouls slowly crawling up from there as Yugi gasped before Shadii yelled out a riddle. “I crawl from the earth and cling to a pillar! What am I?”

_They’re illusions, right?_

**_Y-yes, but…_ **

_Then they can’t hurt you!_

**_Normally, the illusion disappears if you kno—_** he stopped and focused, thinking on the riddle. If he was too afraid or uncertain of himself, another ushabti would break.

_The shadowy fi…that’s it!_

Yugi managed to get his voice and yelled, “The true form of the illusion is my shadow!”

Yami quickly pulled Yugi away as the ghouls disappeared, the wind whipping around them and Shadii. **_Yugi!_**

_I…that…sorry. But..the shadow figure. They said we were strong enough to defeat the Ankh and Scales._

**_They did. Even though Shadii created this Shadow Game…and staked it in his favor, or in the favor of breaking us, I could break the illusions he creates. He’s weak now because he has to use one item at a time…but he has the advantage of having two. Considering how he’s using them, he has enough control over both that it will be hard._ **

_I can’t help?_

**_You sound exhausted, and all you did was speak._** Yugi was silent at the reprimand. **_I will do what I can to not be afraid, Yugi, but the illusions, despite what he says, are dangerous, and these Shadows are not only heavy, but want to devour me. If we get the Ankh, we may be able to save Professor Yoshimori as well._**

_Ok…but I still want to help, if I can._

**_If you can. But speak to me next time, don’t take over. I don’t want Shadii to suspect you know anything, or that you are as strong as you are. Him underestimating us is our only advantage right now._ **

\--

Jounouchi hated this. She’d managed to outrun Yoshimori, and had knocked him down a few times, luckily not hurting the older man too badly, but he appeared to have only a one-track mind and, sadly, that track was to kill her.

Jounouchi turned the corner and jumped, nearly running into the zombified professor as a large, dark shape moved out of the shadows. It was huge, as large as the lions or tigers in the zoo, and had glowing, teal-colored eyes and what looked like a human head full of razor-sharp teeth. Dark fur, black with sharp, contrasting red highlights, bristles before the being let out a screech, like some mix of a human’s cry and a lion’s roar, that made Jounouchi freeze in terror, her flight and fight response so trapped in fear that it could do neither while the zombified professor slowly moved towards the monster, his own voice sounding uneven and not his own. “I was right. You are here. You and your monsters are here. Come out then, Mighty One. Come out and face me!”

There was no answer, only the low growl of the monstrous half-person half-lion thing that watched the professor with a glare and slowly licked its lips, the teeth showing.

“Your little friend is losing! That girl will fall to her death! Come out and face me!”

There was a slow string of words before the voice told Jounouchi, speaking in accented English. “Go to the rooftop. Find and save Anzu. Yugi and his other self will do the rest.”

“T-the professor…” she found her voice, her fear of what would happen to the man stopping her from moving. She couldn’t let him die!

“The one here has wiped his mind – there is nothing left. Still…Yami may be able to fix it. I will keep him here, until the end of the Shadow Game.”

Jounouchi ran to the rooftop entrance, and cursed when she found it locked. Luckily, there was a window nearby, and for all she was afraid of zombies and ghosts, Jounouchi was _not_ afraid of heights. Hell, she’d been climbing trees to deliver that newspaper to the kid and his brother for a while.

She put that thought and other memories away as she looked out the window, letting out a low curse in English when she saw Anzu on the ledge.

\--

Yami hated how panicked the appearance of Ammut made him – to be fair, he knew what the demon could do, and that it was only called when someone wanted to have a soul devourered. Having two himself, the problem now was that Ammut could easily eat Yugi’s, and his fear and worry from the time playing Dragon Cards hadn’t disappeared.

He’d not thought much of Yugi until realizing the Shadows would work for him, and slowly he began to see Yugi’s strengths and abilities. For all that he’d once thougth of him as a child before, Yami now saw Yugi as a partner in this, one who, while not knowing the full dangers right away, would still stand tall in the face of them. Even now, he listened and mentioned being good at Shinkei Suijaku, but not understanding the meaning of the nine tiles.

Shadii’s mention that they needed to get the tile in the middle had been a tip, but with Yugi muttering in the back of his mind about the unfair rules, and Ammut ready to eat another soul, it was all Yami could do to not panic.

**_But if I’m too scared, Anzu will die. I have to think!_ **

Shadii’s hint had Yugi suddenly bouncing in the background. Yami kept up the appearance of thought as Yugi grew more and more worried while time dwindled.

_Why haven’t you said it yet?_

**_A weakness. I like to go to the last minute._ **

_ANZU’S LIFE IS IN DANGER! AND WHO KNOWS WHAT THE PROFESSOR IS DOING TO JOUNOUCHI! You HAVE to say it, now!_

“The answer is the mouth!”

They had a minute to go, and while he did see his partner’s reasoning, he also worried this was tipping his hand too early. Shadii so far seemed to have no weaknesses, but he was in charge of the game, and hadn’t really been doing much but giving Yami riddles and putting him in danger.

**_To be fair, I did that before. I’m beginning to see the positive aspects of not just having myself in charge, and of mellowing. I am sorry for frightening you, Yugi._ **

_You shouldn’t do that. I don’t want my friends hurt again. They knew the dangers, but…but Anzu’s a doll, and Jounouchi…_

**_I know. This last test may be hard on both of us, though. Shadii’s working to break_ us, _and not giving himself an opening. We have just this last chance to break his ushabti._**

Shadii taunted them about their ushabti, saying his was like a diamond and theirs was like weak alabaster. With that out of the way, he introduced their final opponent…the memory of Jounouchi, from before they were friends.

“I saw her, when I visited your mind,” Shadii said as Jounouchi violently took the Puzzle away from them, “No matter how long you live, even if you manage to forget, a bad memory will remain in the mind forever. The final game…a game of death, between you and your friend!”

_No! I know it’s a bad memory…but…but Jounouchi wouldn’t do that to us!_

**_It’s just a memory he said. Still…I’m not sure if I believe him._ **

They had worse memories, concerning Jounouchi, then her earlier time attacking Yugi or bullying him. At the same time, Yami didn’t see the point of this game. He also knew what Shadii was trying to do, and that was the weakness to exploit.

**_Yugi…give into despair._ **

_What?_

**_The ushabtis are ours. If you give in to your fear and sadness, one will break. The other will remain._ **

_B-but!_

Yami opened up his senses enough to see what he suspected. **_The figure is working to help us. See where Jounouchi is?_**

_Th…she’s outside. B—she’s going to get Anzu!_

**_Shadii suspects that Jounouchi will leave because he doesn’t know of our bonds. No matter what he said he saw…he doesn’t know Jounouchi, or Anzu, or us. Let one break, let his true hubris and weakness show. I promise…I will do all I can to keep Anzu alive, no matter what._ **

The ushabti broke, and after looking worried and contemplative, Yami passed his turn, walking to the edge as Shadii taunted him. “To believe in others too much is a weakness! Trus others, and your trust will be broken like a fragile ushabti! And only fools feel the need to gather together in friendship and comfort each other!” He let out an annoyed ‘tsk’ as Yami felt the memory that Shadii had conjured moving forward, as it had before.

**_Jounouchi hated herself back then, but she wasn’t about to let Yugi die. And now…now she will show you true strength._ **

**_You’re wrong, Shadii. It is those who feel the need to never seek out friends, who always hide behind abrasiveness and power, that will find true strength. I know that now. I see, now, why my Item is the Puzzle, why that power is to build and see the full picture. Yugi released me when he was at his lowest, when he wasn’t even sure he had frinds, and Jounouchi helped complete it by returning the last, most important piece. Since that time, we have built upon that, created a greater and better understanding. We’re stronger together, as a unit, then alone._ **

The memory faded with a smile, Shadii screaming as it did, trying to call it back as Yami turned and picked up the Puzzle. “Friends don’t just exist in a specific time, and power doesn’t just come from being alone. It comes from trusting yourself…and your friends.”

The board moved as Jounouchi yelled, “Anzu! I got you!”

Shadii’s ushabti began to splinter, and finally broke, Anzu blinking before letting out a wail and falling to her knees.

“Will you get off the damned plank?!”

“J-Jounouchi, what are you—“  
“Stop asking stupid questions and climb to the roof!”

“I’m scared!”

“ _I can only hold you up for so long, climb to the goddamn roof!_ ”

Yami moved quickly to help Anzu and Jounouchi, the three climbing back over the fence as Shadii looked at them and finally bowed, heading out. Jounouchi shifted unhappily before saying, “The professor…”

They headed back down, finding the professor unconscious and still a slave to the owner of the Ankh. Shadii hadn’t fixed him, but…

Yami reached forward with his own power, find the ruined Soul Room and some hints of what there once were. He could easily rebuild it from that, allowing the room to come back as it had been before leaving it alone, letting Yugi take over as the Professor woke up, looking at them in confusion.

“What happened?”

\--

“Apparently I saw a sphinx,” Jounouchi told them the next day, showing a picture of a woman speaking to a man who held a spear, “but…I don’t get it. Who’s working against Shadii?”

“Yami said he would…if only because of what happened, but…he’s also worried. He doesn’t think Shadii will be the last one to appear, and if that person who spoke to you and controlled the sphinx also talked to us, then there are others who are going to try and come after us.”

Bakura let out a breath and slowly nodded, a determined look lighting his eyes. “We’ll be ready. I know it.”


End file.
